Shadow: Dark Horizon
by ShadexProductions
Summary: After a sentient object crash-lands to Earth, its' mystery is the least of everyone's problems. As Earth is pulled toward the heart of destruction, Shadow, Sonic & Co. rise up against the Ancient Evil in what may be their greatest adventure yet...
1. Broken Dreams

**_Shadow: Dark Horizon_  
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_**Act One: Hole In The Earth**_

_**Part One: Broken Dreams**_**  
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**Detailed Summery: **Shadow is tormented by the dreams of his beloved Maria but they turn out to be a sign. Soon, disaster strikes Sunlight City, a productive and vital metropolis for the world and also where GUN HQ is located. Little does Shadow know that what has saved him countless times is now against him and everyone else for that matter. Soon, Sonic and Co. are caught up in all of this mess after learning that Earth itself is in danger of the Deadly new threat...

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**A/N: **Hello people of ! This is my absolute first Fanfiction ever and have been working on it since December of last year. I plan to make this a full-blown Fanfiction and my goal is to make it have over 100k+ words and contain an Epic Plot. Well, I'm done babbling here. Enjoy the story!  
**WARNING**: THIS STORY IS DARK, AND WILL CONTAIN COUPLES IN THE FUTURE!  
**DISCLAIMER: ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO SEGA! (Except Mine!)**

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**Ark Colony**

"Shadow...Shadow... C'mon Shadow, rise and shine!" Maria said with a bright smile on her face.

An exhausted Shadow opened his eyes to find himself in his room with Maria sitting right beside him.

"Good morning to you too..." He yawned. "Well, I didn't want to leave you with an empty stomach! I made some breakfast for you in the kitchen!" Maria exclaimed as her eyes gleamed with joy.

Shadow couldn't help but smile at her expression. Her smile, no matter what, always brightened his day.

"Thank you, as always Maria!" Shadow said as he leaned up. "I'll be waiting for you in the kitchen okay?" Maria asked right as she headed out of the doorway.

"Sure thing!" Shadow called back.

As she exited out the door, Shadow got himself out of his drowsy state. He cracked his neck and stretched, then proceeded to look around in his room. It was small but fit to his size perfectly. It was colored with metallic and blue-ish gray colors. Not exactly eye catching, but it really didn't matter to the ebony hedgehog. He looked outside his window and viewed the endless realm of outer space. The Earth slowly spun, not looking any different from what Shadow had seen. He always had wondered what it was like on Earth. They experienced light and dark phases. What was it called again? Oh yeah, "Day" and "Night".

"Alright, enough pondering. I'm ready for some breakfast." The hedgehog thought as he headed for the doorway.

As he walked out, he saw one of Gerald's assistants.

"Hey Shadow." The man said as he walked by.

"Good morning Ron." Shadow replied while heading toward the kitchen.

As he veered closer to the kitchen, he could smell the sweet  
scent of pancakes and syrup. "I'm not one that really looks forward to meals, but this is an exception!" He thought as he smelled the delicious food.

As he walked in the kitchen, he noticed nobody but Maria was present in the area. She was preparing his plate while  
humming a melodic tune. What was it called... music? Yeah that's it, music! Maria had let him listen to some of her records that Gerald had given to her. It was different to Shadow but he actually started to enjoy it.

"There you are!" Maria said to shadow as she walked over to a table. "I know pancakes are your favorite so I made some!" She smiled as she handed them to Shadow.

"Oh, don't mind if I do!" Shadow responded happily as he accepted the plate of pancakes. "You didn't have to make me breakfast though, Maria! You already do so much for me!" Shadow thanked Maria.

"Oh Shadow, you know I could never do too much for you! After all, you ARE the reason for why I might be cured you know!" Maria replied with a thankful expression.

"I can't argue there!" Shadow laughed as he sat down.

Maria walked back inside the cooking area and made herself a plate. In a few seconds, she came back and sat in front of Shadow on the other side of the table.

"So what do you plan on doing today?" Maria asked as she grabbed a bottle of syrup.

"The doctor said he wanted to run some tests on me. I think he's made a breakthrough in finding your cure!" Shadow replied as he took a bight of the fluffy pancake.

"Really? That's great news!" Maria replied with a rather hopeful expression.

"I know. It's great to know that you'll be sick no longer. Maybe we'll get to visit Earth too! It'd be so great!" Shadow said back as he imagined being on Earth.

"Definitely!" Maria said with an illuminating smile.

Shadow couldn't help but smile back. _Life will be so much better. It makes me eager just to know that the time is near._ Shadow thought.

After finishing a mountain of pancakes, Shadow pushed his plate away and gently rested his hands on his stomach.

"Phew. I don't think I want to see another pancake for a while!" He said jokingly.

"I'm glad you enjoyed them! You better make sure you get enough exercise to burn those calories though!" Maria noted to Shadow.

"Yeah, after a nap. Ha." Shadow said which caused Maria and him to bust out into laughter.

After Shadow noticed that Maria was finished, he decided to lend a helping hand to her.

"May I take your plate, miss?" Shadow asked in a gentlemen-like tone. Playing along, Maria responded back. "Of course good sir!" This caused them to yet again, bust out into more laughter.

"Hey Maria, don't worry about the kitchen, I'll clean it up for you." Shadow assured Maria with a soft tone.

"Really? Thanks Shadow!" She gratefully replied as she bent down and gave him a hug.

After the two broke apart, Maria started to depart. "Shadow, I'm going to take a shower, so by the time I'm finished you should be done cleaning." She told Shadow while walking out of the area.

"Okay. See you then!" Shadow responded as he hopped onto a chair and grabbed a pan and started scrubbing it. As she left, Shadow began to get lost in his thoughts.

_She's so caring, loving, joyful, I could go on!_ His thoughts loomed inside his head as he rinsed the pan. _What an amazing friend. Could she be...? Nah. Impossible. It would be odd for things to be like that! She'd probably be looked down upon by her kind and I couldn't cause her that kind of pain._ He thought. _Eh, we'll see what happens. We do have many years of our life left anyway..._ Shadow thought, but then halted. _No, not 'we', 'her'. I'm just ageless..._ He sadly thought.

Would he have to watch her die while he just lives on until the end of time? It would be horrible, and Shadow couldn't even bear the thought of it.

_Stop thinking about those things! Focus on today! You might save her life._ His thoughts raged. The doctor had a scheduled test for him at twelve o' clock, so he would have to head over to the lab in about two hours.

As he finished washing the dishes and cleaning up the kitchen, he started walking out of the door. BAM! Maria walked right into him and they both fell down.

"Oh no, are you okay Shadow? I'm sorry, I didn't even see you..." Maria apologized.

"Hehe, it's okay Maria. I'm not hurt, but you're making me laugh!" Shadow said as he rolled on the floor, laughing. Maria soon broke out into laughter too.

"Here, let me help you up." Shadow said as he extended his hand to Maria. As her hand met his, he firmly grasped it and gently pulled her up.

"Thank you Shadow! It's good to know that you've incorporated some of the manners I've taught you!" Maria thanked as she smiled, with her sapphire blue eyes gleaming.

"It's always good to know that I help you too you know!" Shadow said as he smiled.

As they walked out into the hallway, Shadow suddenly heard a peculiar noise. It was tedious at first, but then it grew. It was like a metallic scratching noise, but it was different.

"Maria, do you hear that?" He asked as his eyes darted around the hallway.

"I do, it's kind of odd isn't it?" She asked.

"Yeah..." Shadow replied in wonder.

When Shadow went to answer he was cut off as the lights suddenly blew out. POOM!

"Ahhh! What... What was that Shadow?" Maria jumped and clung on to Shadow, hugging him.

"I... don't know, but this is really weird. Should we go find your grandfather?" Shadow asked as he squinted down the now dark hallway.

"Y...Yeah..." Maria said softly as she clung tighter to him. It was unbelievable how scared she was. Shadow was soon worried because of it also.

"Alright, let's get some light in here." He whispered as he summoned a small ball of bright red and white energy in his hand.

It illuminated the room, producing red glares from the metallic hallway. Shadow picked Maria up and started down the hallway in search of Gerald's Lab. After about five minutes of walking, He started hearing the 'noise' again, except this time it was louder.

"Cover your ears Maria." Shadow calmly instructed Maria.

"Okay..." She replied as she pressed her palms against her ears.

The sound was now on the verge of annoying Shadow, and he wanted it to stop, now. Shadow turned his attention to the window as he was walking. It gave off a little bit of light, but not enough in order to see clearly. As he turned away, he heard a crash and directs his attention to the window. A metallic rock had broken it! Maria was losing oxygen! "Come on Maria!" He yelled as he started sprinting toward the nearest emergency marked room.

As he entered an office, he quickly closed the door and searched for a button. He then set Maria down in a chair nearby.

"C'mon, where is it?" Shadow yelled as he searched through compartments and bookcases.

"Where's what Shadow?" Maria asked and then noticed she was unable to take in much oxygen.

"It's to seal all other rooms from Space exposure and to aerate some oxygen in them... there it is!" He answered back, and bashed the button with his fist.

"Emergency Air Sealing commencing." An automated voice played throughout the intercom of the ship.

As the doors sealed up, Shadow noticed that Maria's breathing was back to normal.

"You okay Maria?" He nervously asked her.

"Mmmhmm..." Maria nodded as she replied quietly.

"Alright then, it's time to find your grandfather! Come on, let's go!" Shadow stated and then picked up Maria with a firm grip.

As he slowly made his way down the other hallways with a jog, he finally arrived at the doctor's lab.

"Please tell me he's here…" Shadow thought to himself.

He carefully sat Maria down on a couch and looked around. After a few minutes of desperate searching, Shadow came back, empty handed.

"Nothing?" Maria asked as she leaned up with a small twinge of hope in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, but not a thing..." Shadow replied back as he walked over to the couch.

He slowly sat down next to Maria's side. "I think we should stay here and take some shelter for now. I'll try and contact your grandfather in the meantime." Shadow told her with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"O-Okay..." Maria stuttered as she replied back.

Shadow rose up from the couch and starting searching for a communication device. His eyes searched the whole scene and he didn't see a thing. He looked at the intercom system near the center of the lab. Maybe he could use that to get a hold of Gerald! Of course! Right? Shadow quickly made his way over to the intercom. He searched for the white button that enabled him to speak through it.

_There you are..._ He thought.

As he pressed the white button, a few sparks shot out from the wiring that connected it.

"Just my luck." He mumbled to himself.

He directed his attention to the frayed wires that were near the intercom controller. He knew he wasn't a technology guy, but he could tell something was wrong.

The wires were nearly severed from the controller! He took a closer look at it and thought to himself. After a couple of minutes, he thought of an idea that actually made sense.

"Why not use my own power?" He questioned himself.

He generated a green energy ball in his left hand and steadily placed it on the wire. The light's that indicated the power the flashed on and the intercom system was up and running.

"Bingo. Not too bad Shadow." He complimented his self.

"Way to go Shadow!" Maria called as she directed a warm smile toward him.

Shadow felt his cheeks grow a little warm, but ignored his reaction and focused on the present events.

With his right hand, he pounded the white button with his fist. A holographic screen came up with a set of options.

"All" Shadow commanded toward the screen.

Then an automated voice answered him back, "Record message now."

Shadow cleared his throat, "Doctor! What's going on? Maria and I have been taking some shelter in your lab! Where are you at? We can't find you!" Shadow desperately asked as he yelled into the microphone.

After Waiting for a few minutes, he began to hear a small static noise from the speaker. Was he calling? Not even close...

The speakers then abruptly exploded with an ear piercing screech!

"Maria!" Shadow cried out as he rushed over to her. He put his hands against her hands that were covering her ears.

The high pitched waves were now getting to him, and his vision was fading out a little bit.

"My head!" Shadow exclaimed as he clutched his quills.

"No, Shadow!" Maria yelled out to him.

Shadow couldn't hear her, but he had trained himself to read her lips. Maria was practically on the verge of tears just watching Shadow in such pain. Then the unthinkable happened... it stopped. As Shadow exposed his ears once more, he breathed a sigh of relief. _Glad that's over..._

"No... No it's not!" He heard a dark metallic voice echo throughout the lab. Shadow's fur raised.

"Maria, we need to move now!" Shadow said with a very worried look on his face. Maria sheepishly nodded and Shadow walked over to her and picked her up.

"Ah ah _ah_, Shadow. Where do you think you're going?" He heard the voice again, and feared for Maria.

After uttering those cursed words, a metallic mass burst through the wall. It knocked Shadow all the way back to the other side of the room while Maria was left stranded on another.

"S-Shadow!" Maria screamed as she bolted toward Shadow, away from the enigmatic figure.

"You think you can resist me? Foolish human, you will learn from the errors of your ways!" The haunting voice continued.

The dark gray figure had an oddly shaped outer body, colored with many gradients that glowed in the dark. A large horn protruded through the top of the beings head. He wasn't joking and while the creature was in mid-lunge, Shadow cried out,

"Chaos Shield!" A green and red shield surrounded Maria's body as the figure went to slash at her. The contact with the blade created a huge puff of smoke throughout the room.

As the smoke cleared, Shadow's heart stopped. The world started to move in slow motion as tears welded up in his eyes. The image terrified him to no end. A bloodied Maria had been impaled from the side... she was losing blood fast.

"MARIA!" Shadow yelled with a haunting scream that would've blown the windows of the entire ARK Colony.

"You think that little thing you call a shield will protect her? Bah, for the 'ultimate life-form' I would of expected better!" The dark figure cruelly laughed at the scarred Shadow.

"S...S-Shadow...!" Maria cried out with a fountain of tears streaming from her dying eyes. "I...I love yo-" Maria was cut off as a mass wave of black clouded shadows emerged from the ground. They violently grabbed Maria and started to pull her down into Darkness.

"N-No!" Shadow yelled as he ran over to her.

He grabbed her now-cold arm and tried to keep her up. The shadows proved to be too strong for shadow though, and they pulled her down into what seemed like an abyss. Maria faintly smiled a smile that reflected sadness and grief.

"Goodbye, Shadow... the Hedgehog..." Maria faintly said as she was taken from this life.

Shadow's emotions were a mix of rage and sorrow. His eyes glowed with intense rage.

"YOU'LL PAY FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" Shadow bellowed as he collided with the unknown enemy. His vision blurred, changing from white, to red, to black. _Nothing_ but sorrow…

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**A/N**: **Ouch, that's gotta be painful! (Emotionally). So as you can see already by Part One, this story is gonna be darker than the night sky. (Similes FTW!)  
P.S. This Nightmare that Shadow experiences is based on a memory that He and Maria shared on the ARK. However, the eve****nts that lead up to Maria being brutally killed DID NOT happen and is merely a part of Shadow's dream****. Also, what does this dream (Or better yet, Nightmare) that Shadow had even _mean_? Stay tuned for Part Two! :D Thank you guys for reading the first part of my story! I really appreciate it! Catch You Guys Later!**


	2. Impending Thoughts

_**Shadow: Dark Horizon **_

_**Part Two: Impending Thoughts**_

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**A/N: **Woohoo Part Two! This chapter gives some pretty key details to the story so I suggest you keep your eyes peeled ;) It's also not as long as the previous one but it IS 2k words which is my goal for each Part. I also want to give a special shout out to Qwisse for pointing out to me some paragraph organization and for being the first reviewer! Yeah! Anyways, enjoy the second part to Shadow: Dark Horizon and be sure to Review!  
**DISCLAIMER: ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO SEGA! (Except Mine!)**

**Sunlight City – G.U.N. HQ**

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Shadow woke up in a cold, haunting, sweat. It had been another dream about his beloved friend, Maria, except this time it was surreal.

"These dreams", he murmured, "They never stop, they just flood my brain and push me into agony!" He slammed his fist on his bed and buried his face into his pillow.

As his distraught face submerged into the pillow, a few tears leaked from his eyes. Sadness filled his mind and he felt as if his head would explode. It was one thing for Maria to perish by a gunshot, but the nightmare he had about her being impaled and dragged into darkness just completely tore him apart_. _

_Can I not even have happy dreams, or are they all involved with despair… and painful memories? _He thought to himself.

The worst part was that he was helpless and couldn't do a thing about it. It had been a long fifty plus years for Shadow and he disliked most of it. The only thing that he enjoyed in the past fifty years was spending time with Maria and his other 'family'.

_Pain_. The ebony hedgehog's words echoed in his brain. _Pain…Pain…_ It was if pain was the only emotion that existed in his feelings anymore… for the most part.

He remembered his promise to Maria shortly before she was murdered, and would keep it with his life, even if it meant his own being lost in the process. Shadow stared out of the window as he layed on his side. He could see the majestic horizon from the sunrise. 

_It's beautiful_ He thought to himself peacefully.

Then, he slowly walked back to his bed and sat on the edge of it. It was so unusual though, the dream he had. What was that evil figure who had killed Maria? Was it a sign? 

_So many questions and just no answers_.He podered

The dream that Shadow dreamt was based on one of his memories. It was one of his most treasured ones and he was actually happy in that point of time. Now, he was the complete and utter opposite. Maria was the only thing that really mattered to him in his life, his only purpose of living. Now, he just tried to live in peace as much as he could. Although memories and dreams still haunted him once in a while, he hadn't grown used to it. The dream he had just been encased in however, was completely different…

**Mobius – Hill Plains**

"Sonic!" Amy screamed as she ran up to the blue hedgehog. It was 5:00 in the morning, and she hadn't seen him the day before at all. "You're back, where have you been?"

Sonic replied in a painful state. "I got caught up in the mountains while on a run and there was a huge snowstorm occurring while I was up there. I thought I knew where I was going but man, I slammed right into a tree!" Sonic had been absent and Amy was worried sick.

Sonic had bruises and cuts all over his torso and the pain was pretty sharp.

"I'm so sorry that happened sonic" Amy replied with a sorrowful expression on her face. "You look like you could use some help, why don't you come over to my place and I can nurse you back to health?"

Sonic thought about it and remembered that most of his friends such as Tails and Knuckles, had taken a vacation to earth using Tails' teleporter.

"Yeah sure, thanks." he replied.

"Great! Now, let's take you to my house and I'll make you a place to rest and whip up some hot soup for you!"

"Thanks Amy." Sonic replied gratefully.

Amy carefully guided Sonic to her home in the dark. "A nice morning, isn't it Sonic?" Amy asked the azure hedgehog.

"Hm? Oh, yeah it is..." Sonic replied, trying to take off the focus he had on the pain from his wounds.

Silence then fell between them. It had been years since Amy's obsession with Sonic, but time took its toll and she matured. However, Amy still had a soft spot for her hero, and would always be there for him, no matter what. Sonic himself had matured, and he had no problem being in Amy's presence anymore. In fact, he appreciated that she didn't chase him around anymore, fueled by her undying obsession for the blue hedgehog.

"So why did Tails and Knuckles go to earth of all places for vacation?" Amy questioned Sonic as she helped guide Sonic to her house.

"That's a good question." Sonic replied. "Tails told me that they went to Sunlight City, this huge metropolis that was built some time ago. It didn't use to attract people until about 20 years ago, and now, it's a pretty vital place." Sonic explained while he limped.

"Sunlight City, huh? Is it named that for a reason?" Amy asked once again.

"In fact, it is. They say that at sunset, the sky shows off beautiful vibrant colors. I hear it's a site to see. They have beaches and resorts on the shore as well." He still explained.

"Wow, I might need to go there sometime! Maybe even with Cream! That'd totally be fun!" Amy exclaimed happily.

"Yeah…" Sonic faintly replied.

The pain was becoming more intense and sonic was immensely exhausted from his accident now.

"Sonic, are you OK?" Amy worriedly asks noticing the hedgehog's recoil from the pain.

"I've been better before…" He replied with a faint grin and week laugh.

"Alright, we are almost there…" Amy said to sonic with a cheerful smile on her face.

A few minutes passed by, and the two finally arrived at Amy's house. When Amy walked in, she carefully guided Sonic to a guest room that she had prepared. He slowly laid himself on the bed inside and stretched out his body, trying to calm and relax himself. When Amy came back to Sonic after she had fetched him a blanket, she realized that he was fast asleep. Amy smiled and tenderly placed the blanket on him.

"Sleep well Sonic…" She whispered into his ear.

She carefully tiptoed to her room.

"Phew, that was close." She mumbled to herself as she slipped on her usual red dress and got out of her pajamas.

It had been a long night without knowing where Sonic was and she had had a knot in her stomach all night. Although Amy had made a promise to herself to get rid of her obsession with Sonic, it was difficult for her sometimes. However, she had managed to ignore it a lot in the process. 

_How long has it been? That's it, two years since I made that promise. I intend to keep it now._ In fact, she chuckled at some of the memories she had of chasing Sonic with her Piko Piko hammer.

The crazy look in her eyes were definitely intimidating.

"No wonder Sonic ran!" She mentioned to herself as she chuckled.

She now thought about what she would do since Sonic was resting. It was too early to start cooking breakfast since it'd get cold by the time he woke up.

"I guess I'll just tidy up my room, it needs to be cleaned anyway." She decided as she grabbed her dirty clothes and made her way into the laundry room.

Although Sonic had looked like he was asleep, he was merely closing his eyes and making a fake snoring noise. He just wanted a little bit of alone time. He slowly opened his eyes and blankly stared at the ceiling. Sonic was now seventeen. He couldn't believe it himself, but he was one year away from finally being considered a 'true adult' in Mobian years. The only thing that really bothered Sonic was that he might not be able to run as fast he grew older. He shook his head however.

"Come on Sonic, your life has just begun. Don't go wandering down that path of thinking ore you're going to become like Shadow, completely hollow and emotionless." He quietly mumbled to himself.

As he shrugged those thoughts off, he looked around in the room. It was quite nice and Amy had really kept it cleaned up.

Amy.

She had really toned down the obsessive attitude that she normally had for the past two years. It really had been nice that they could now be friends and not have to worry about _her_ hammer bashing _his_ head. It really was amazing how she had changed and she was really starting to grow on Sonic.

He caught himself though. 

_You know better Sonic. She would just be a speed bump in your life. It'd just slow you down…_, He thought to himself. _No, she could be more important than that. Besides, she really is a good person. Yes, but what about your enemies hmmm? They could use her as leverage and I'm pretty sure you wouldn't want that to happen would you? No, I guess I wouldn't… Then there's your answer Sonic. You are not the love kind of person, so stop trying to convince yourself and move on with your life. _His thoughts violently clashed inside his conscious.

He was really torn between each situation and he didn't feel like dealing with it now, not after what he'd just been through.

"That battle will be for another day Sonic the Hedgehog." He whispered to himself. He had really been through a lot today. He collided with a stupid pine tree at a pretty fast speed and bruised himself up pretty badly. 

_There goes my morning runs for the week… _He thought to himself with a disappointed look on his face. Not only was he hurt, but he had to carry his injured self to the closest house he could find. Of course, it was Amy's, but it really didn't bother him like it would have had it happened in the past.

"Alright, enough thinking about that stuff. I just want some shut-eye." He mumbled to himself as he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

**Sunlight City – G.U.N. HQ**

Shadow still laid on his bed, awake and still pondering about his life. More Negative emotions entered his head. He wished he could change things, change time, EVERYTHING bad that had happened to him. No one understood his pain.

"They've never felt what I've felt…" he repeated to himself.

He stood up out of bed, walked to the sink, and splashed some hot water on his face. As he walked out drying his face with a towel, he stared out the window. Shadow had given deep thought about quitting G.U.N., for it seemed to put so much stress on his mind, especially the fact that it was the company that was involved with Maria and Gerald Robotnik's death.

Shadow stared at the stunning horizon out of his window again and tried to calm his nerves.

"Hmph. I guess I'll just try and go back to sleep..." He said softly.

Then, He saw something out of the corner of his eye, A bright metallic flash swept through the sky and spiraled toward earth.

"What the…" Shadow didn't even finish his response when the huge object hit the ground.

The object exploded and emitted multicolored fire and smoke. From what Shadow could see, the object tossed fireballs, shrapnel and other objects throughout the area. The explosion rattled G.U.N. HQ and made it start to crumble at its foundations from the blistering heat. Shadow was then thrown back against the wall from the powerful blast. "Chaos Shield!" He shouted. The purple flame given off from the explosion roasted his room. The glass melted and everything was absolutely charred black from the intense heat. Shadow watched in horror as his room was completely charred.

"What… is _THIS_?" He screamed in anger and confusion.

Then, the ebony hedgehog remembered.

_Oh no_, he thought to himself. _Are Rouge and Omega Ok?_

Before he had time to react, the building shifted backwards and leaned hard to the right. All the debris shifted down toward where shadow was and almost crushed him.

"Chaos Sphere!" He commanded and disintegrated the debris in an instant.

The building was collapsing fast, and so was what little he had, and what he had worked for. Time was running out and he needed to act now… but what was this 'thing'?

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**A/N: **Did I just leave you guys with a cliff hanger? Heck yes I did! MWAHAHAHA! Things are starting to heat up! (Literally! XD) What will happen to Shadow? What is this thing that just incinerated the entire area? Will become of Sonic and Amy? Those questions will be answered in Part Three so Stay tuned and thank you for reading my story so far! :)


	3. True Colors

_**Shadow****: Dark Horizon  
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**_Part Three: True Colors_  
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A/N:** Part Three! I'm gonna be honest though... This part took FOREVER to revise from the rough draft and took a lot of time to think about. Plus, this chapter isn't as long as the others as I barely made the 2k limit I set for myself. With all that aside though, I want to thank Qwisse for pointing out some grammar mistakes in previous parts and writing more reviews! I hope you guys enjoy it! It gets pretty interesting! Oh, and please review too! :)  
**DISCLAIMER: ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO SEGA! (Except Mine!)**

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Sunlight City - G.U.N. HQ  
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The ebony hedgehog had to think fast. Seconds remained until the building would fall and hit the ground. His belongings didn't really matter to him... _except_ one thing, a necklace Maria made for Shadow right before the events of her death. It was one of the last possessions that Shadow had besides pictures from the years before. In fact, it was the last precious thing that was left of her memory. Shadow boosted fiercely with his rocket shoes toward his destroyed dresser and his ruby eyes gleamed as they scanned the desk. _There it is!_ He thought to himself. He was surprised that it hadn't been damaged at all. Not even a smudge or a scratch.

After staring at his treasured necklace for a brief moment, he encased the precious item in the palm of his hand. With his free hand, he configured the maximum setting of thrust for his rocket shoes. "This better work…" He muttered before performing his escape. He jumped two times and on a third time, he ignited them and sprung out of the collapsing G.U.N. HQ. He was now free falling through a sea of debris and quickly took action by clinging on to small pieces as he fell. He propelled himself off of a large one within arm's reach and hit the road below him. The debris only absorbed some of the impact, but shadow was thrown across the road several meters when he made contact with the ground.

The ebony hedgehog made a loud 'POOM' with his rocket shoes when he stopped rolling. _Shoot, now they'll need to take some time to recharge… _He was in pain but he needed to get up. As he propped himself upwards he watched in horror as the building plummeted and hit the ground with a sharp, metallic, bang. "No… no no _no_! Rouge …Omega…" He shouted while extending his arm towards the scene, as if he was reaching for them… The building caked in on itself and was nothing more than a pile of iron and steel rubble right now. He took a brief moment however, and turned to examine the huge metallic object that caused the mess in the first place. It created a huge crater in the middle of the city and obliterated everything close to it. The G.U.N HQ building was lucky to have not been as close as the others, but that didn't change its' fate.

Shadow looked up in the sky and noticed that the clouds in the path of the metallic object were burned apart and were alit with red and blue flames. _No! Impossible!_ It had cut a hole in the atmosphere! Shadow took notice to the hand that was holding Maria's necklace. He tightened his grip with care and spoke with a grateful attitude. _Without your warning… I wouldn't be here right now. I know you still watch over me… _ Shadow calmly stated in his mind. He closed his eyes and shed an unnoticeable tear. He wiped his eye quickly and then focused on the surrounding area. His eye caught a few citizens running away from the explosion.

Something was wrong with the picture though. They appeared to be severely injured. Even at a distance, the third-degree burns and mangled limbs disgusted Shadow. _Those poor souls… all the suffering they're going through. _He thought. _They kind of remind me of myself, complete and utter sorrow just like they're facing right now._ Another thing that was really odd about the surrounding area was that there were no other citizens in sight. Had they all been incinerated by the blast? No, there would have been more survivors, but aren't there millions of people that live here? It was all just a mystery to Shadow and he wanted to solve it. Then it hit Shadow with a strong pulse from his heart. _Was this a sign from… Maria?_

**Mobius - Amy's House**

It was now in the morning and the sun was rising as Amy was busy cooking up breakfast for Sonic. Before she started however, she turned on her T.V. on to watch a couple of shows."Nope, nope, nope, nope." Amy said to herself as she surfed through channels that were boring to her. As she was searching, a flashing headliner caught her eye. After reading it, a surprised look of fear and worry became present upon her face. _This can't be happening! _She ran to the guest room and frantically opened the door. As she came barging through the door, she rushed over to Sonic and shook his shoulder. "Sonic! Sonic! I'm afraid I have some unpleasant news…"

Sonic opened his eyes at the sentence and perked his ears up. "Amy, what's going on?" Sonic yawned as he stretched his body. "Oh, it's terrible! This big asteroid-thing struck Sunlight City this morning! It's all over the news!" Sonic's eyes widened with surprise. He quickly sprinted out of the bed to the living room and stared at the T.V. "No. This can't be happening. Why did it have to be when Tails & Knuckles were there?" Amy quickly followed behind Sonic and rested her hand on his shoulder. Tears started to well up in her eyes and Sonic's frown grew bigger .

An image of a ravaged Sunlight City was broadcasted through a camera via helicopter view. "No one knows what the object is or where it came from, but reports say that it is very powerful in appearance. Any citizens that may still be in the area have been issued an evacuation." The camera man informed the many viewers. "No, Tails and Knuckles!" Sonic screamed at the inanimate object. "Maybe… they were in the outer levels of the city…" Amy said trying to put some positive thoughts in his head. "I hope…" Sonic faintly mumbled as he walked backwards slowly and sat on the nearest couch. _What is that thing?_ He thought to himself, staring at the image of the metallic object.

Sonic went to get back up out of the couch but his body cringed in pain from the day's previous injuries. "Ow! I guess I hit that tree harder than I thought." The hedgehog muttered to himself. "Wow, of all the times for a disaster to occur… when I'm injured!" He yelled at himself. "Well… don't forget, Shadow's probably caught up in this thing too. Maybe Shadow will be able to handle this while you rest." A hopeful Amy said as she walked over and sat next to him. "The faker? Maybe…" The azure hedgehog grunted with doubt. "But I think I'd rather find _my_ friends rather than him." "Oh come on! I mean he _is _the Ultimate Life-form is he not? Why couldn't he handle this situation on his own?" Amy questioned, supporting the ebony hedgehog.

"It is possible, but what if _he_ is actually the one behind this? It's probably for his own gain!" Sonic retorted while shaking his fist. "I still don't trust him one-hundred percent! For all you know, he could be teamed up with Eggman in this whole situation!" He Told Amy with a disgusted look on his face. "Ehh… I doubt it. It's been years since he last did, and I don't think he will work with Eggman again. Don't forget that Eggman was trying to plant a lie in his head about his past before he found out for himself." Amy tried explaining but Sonic just ignored it, pretending to nod and consider the fact. Amy easily noticed it and crossed her arms. "Hmph! So what do you want to do about it then?" She asked. "The only thing we can do. Go there ourselves." Sonic quickly responded with a grin on his face. He then rotated his head in the direction of the T.V._What are you?_ Sonic thought as he stared at the Metallic Object, completely puzzled…

**Sunlight City - ****The Crater**

The sharp metallic object was bright and still alit with flame in some areas. It was lodged about a quarter mile into the Earth. "What we have here is an unknown object that has crashed through our atmosphere and has destroyed most of Sunlight City." A News woman reported. "Scientists and the military have gone down to this crater to research what it is and how it got here. They may even be searching for a new life form." The newswoman explained to the tuned-in viewers.

A group of scientists stepped out of an armored van with special suits on. "You guys ready?" The lead researcher asked. "Definitely!" Most of the scientists shouted with hope and smiles their faces. As they cautiously approached the unidentified object, one of the scientists questioned it. "What the heck is this thing?" He said with a bewildered look on his face."Beats me, but we'll find out soon enough won't we?" The leader exclaimed with an excited look upon her face. When they went down into the crater, another researcher saw a shining color being reflected from the ground. He then realized that it was a gem shard!

As soon as he touched it, frigid waves of pain shot up through his arm. "Dang! That thing hurts like heck!" He shouted as he grasped his arm. "What's wrong? Does it burn? Is it hot?" A fellow researcher asked him. "No, it's extremely cold though! I'm surprised I didn't get frostbite from that stupid thing!" The scientist mumbled with an angry expression. "Cold? How can something produce so much heat and smoke, yet be cold?" Right after the researcher said that, more crystal-like shards started depositing out of the object. Millions of tiny shards drained out of the metallic object in a sparkling shower, forming a large pie. "What the heck are these things?" One of the scientists asked. "I don't know, but I don't want to find out!" The lead researcher said as she, along with the whole team, started to walk away from the metallic object in a swift manner.

Then all of a sudden, the ground shook. The crater's floor began to split and shake beneath the scientist. They all gasped in horror and some tripped and fell from the shaking vibrations. The floor shook and out came a blue and red explosion of flames. Their lives were quickly taken as the radiant explosion consumed them. The explosion thrusted upwards and a lit the Metallic object with vibrant colors once more. Then, the crystals rose out of the crater, gleaming with a bright light. They shined red and blue colors, showing no signs of hostility. Then the unthinkable happened.

Without warning, they gathered into a swarm of sharp crystal shards and began shredding through everything in its path. Buildings and glass could be heard cracking and crumbling as the crystals went on an all-out rampage."What is this?" The newswoman screamed as she started to sprint away from the scene. "Run! Don't go near the cra.." She was cut-off as she, along with the whole news team, was annihilated by the onslaught of the powerful crystals. The little military forces that were sent to the object soon turned and retreated, returning fire in the process. Bad idea… The shards lunged forward after them at blistering speeds. As soon as they met contact with their victims, they shredded and absorbed all of their energy and left just bones and scrap metal behind. No soul was left untouched and the camera had been dropped recording all of the horrifying footage.

The whole broadcasting station gaped in awe, completely oblivious to the fact that they were still broadcasting. Multi-colored shockwaves were then produced from the metallic object and began to rattle the entire area. The news camera that had been left behind soon cut off from the violent agitations, leaving just a static screen that broadcasted to millions. Reality was now a total nightmare…

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**A/N: **Gruesome, isn't it? Yeah, that's gonna leave few marks! And Sonic wants to now travel to Earth in his current state? Crazy. How will that work out? What is this new threat? Will Shadow be able to find Rouge and Omega in time? Stay tuned for Part Four to find out! Thanks for reading guys! Be sure to review! :P


	4. Starting Off

_**Shadow: Dark Horizon  
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**_Part Four: Starting Off_**

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A/N:** Hey guys! Phew! This was another part that was pretty hard to revise also! It took a lot of time but I finally finished it!Thank God for Sonic music being there to entertain me as I wrote this! Lol! I would like to thank all of you so far who have been watching this story and i hope you enjoy this part! Enjoy! :D  
**DISCLAIMER: ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO SEGA! (Except Mine!)******

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Sunlight City – G.U.N. HQ**

Shadow pondered about how he could locate Rouge and Omega. He had a huge pile of scrap metal to search through and it would take a while...but it didn't matter. They were his friends and he would never give up on them. He started by searching the base of the building. The once elaborately decorated lobby was now charred and completely trashed. He desperately searched and found nothing but ashes and corroded steel. He decided to move on to the next floor. Nothing. No signs of the two at all. Shadow searched more and more floors but just couldn't find them. When he reached floor number thirty-eight he had just about given up hope.

He sat on a piece of rubble and sighed. "I've got to find them, they've got to be in here somewhere!" All of a sudden, he heard a familiar voice. "Shadow the Hedgehog detected." It said to him in his robotic voice. "Omega, thank God you're alive! What's going on? Where's Rouge?" Shadow asked as he gladly rushed over to Omega's position. "The location of Rouge is unknown, however I am receiving a heat signal on the forty-third floor." Omega explained. "That has to be Rouge! C'mon let's go find her before this building is destroyed completely!" Shadow responded as he dashed toward the nearest stairway with Omega quickly following behind.

When they arrived, they saw an unpleasant sight. "This… this is not good…" Shadow said as he examined the scene. It put his stomach in a knot just to see his friend injured. Rouge was bruised and bloodied from a piece of debris that had pinned her down. Omega walked up to her and placed his hand on her neck. "Scanning... Rouge is still alive with a low pulse." "We better get that debris off of her then." Shadow replied. He and Omega used teamwork and pushed the huge piece of debris off Rouge with a powerful shove. "Now, let's get out of here." the hedgehog replied as he picked up Rouge.

As Shadow carried the seemingly lifeless body of Rouge, he had to think of a way to exit the once magnificent building. "Omega, do you think you could blow a hole through that wall in order for us to escape this building?" The ebony hedgehog asked. "Affirmative." Omega replied."However this building's side will collapse and we'll have only seconds until we are crushed." "Well, it's a risk we'll have to take." The hedgehog says as he braces himself to sprint out of the collapsed foundation. "Weak point found. Firing." Omega states as he shoots a micro missile at the wall and blows a hole in the wall. The whole building then began to shake from the impact and began to crumble. "That's our escape, let's go!" Shadow called out as he quickly sprinted out while Omega followed close behind him.

As soon as shadow exited the building, a piece of debris plummeted toward his position. Right before it hit Shadow and Rouge, Omega propelled his arm toward the debris with brute force. The debris was broken on contact and shattered into many tiny pieces. "Wow, thanks Omega. I owe you one, and so does Rouge for that matter." "Owe what?" A familiar voice muttered. "Rouge?" Shadow and Omega questioned, confused. She slowly opened her eyes and looked at her two allies."Yea... I'm surprised I'm not even dead in the first place." Rouge uttered. "Us too." Shadow replied with a dim face "Well anyways, can you explain to me what in the world has happened to sunlight city? My vision is a little off right now and the sky looks… different." Rouge questioned as she examined the surrounding area.

Shadow thought about it and tried to sum up what he knew. "If you should know, this asteroid-like object slammed into the heart of Sunlight City, and has also taken out G.U.N. Headquarters…" The hedgehog said in anger now that his mind was clear of panic and adrenaline. He slammed his fist on a piece of debris nearby. The white bat's expression was now furious. "What? Are you kidding me? Uggh… not a good way to start off the day. Have you had any contact with G.U.N. recently?" Rouge exclaimed with a distraught look on her face. "Surprisingly, no. I haven't heard a thing from them at all which is a bit odd considering the dire attention this situation needs right now." The dark hedgehog explained while cracking his knuckles. He then kicked a rock close to him and crossed his arms. "There's also Sonic and his friends, considering they're always getting involved with these kinds of things. Remember when we teamed up with them against the Metarex? It seems like this could be another one of those scenarios." Rouge suggested. "A considerable idea." Omega added to the thought. "Archive Records on Mobius indicate that Tails and Knuckles had just traveled to earth for vacation via teleporter."

After Shadow processed the whole plan proposal, he made up his mind. "That would kill time though, and considering that this asteroid thing looks like a force to be reckoned with, time isn't something we can waste right now. Plus, how do we even know if these things are stronger than the Metarex? They're probably world domination-crazed aliens that don't know their place." The ebony hedgehog harshly responded, chuckling at his own comment. "Think about it though, Shadow. Now is the time that we could really use their help. I personally think it's not a bad idea to consider." Rouge tried explaining to her emotionless friend. "We don't need _them_, I've got you two and plus, I'm the Ultimate Life-form. A small task like this shouldn't prove to be much of a problem!" Shadow said with a cocky tone.

"But…" Rouge said but was cut off. "Enough. I've made up my mind. If you don't want to come with me that's your choice…" He explained with a sharp tone. "Fine… have it your way…" Rouge sighed. Shadow then took notice to Rouge's injured body. Something had to be done. "Now Rouge, you need medical attention for your injuries, they don't look all too pleasant." Shadow said concerned. "Why are you so concerned? I'll be fine!" Rouge said. As soon as she stood up, an intense pain surged through her lower body and almost collapsed until Shadow and Omega caught her. "You were saying?" Shadow responded sarcastically as he got her back on her feet. "Fine, Dr. Hedgehog, try and find a hospital of some sort, I bet you they're loaded with patients from the explosion." Rouge retorted. "The _real_ problem would be finding a hospital that _isn't_ destroyed" Shadow commented back bleakly.

Shadow then turned around to stare at the metallic object's crash site. It's then that he noticed that another explosion of purple, blue, and red flames had occurred. "That wasn't there before" he muttered as he stared at the explosion. "Something tells me that's not a very good sign." Rouge said to him as she limped over to where he was at. "We've got to get over there as soon as possible!" She exclaimed. "Well, after your wounds are healed, we _will_ head over there as soon as possible." Shadow replied back. _I hope we won't be too late…_

**Mobius - Amy's House**

"I don't believe what's going on!" Sonic exclaimed as he placed both of his hands on his head. "We have just received word that that the entire news crew, research team, and military group have been killed by explosions and some unknown force that emerged from the Metallic object. The government has not yet responded to this growing issue, but a large-scale military invasion towards the object is expected…"A newswoman spoke on TV "I can't believe this..." She silently mouthed as she broke down and started crying. "This... is unbelievable..." Amy responded with a little bit of tears starting well up in her eyes. "I wonder if there is a faster way to heal you S-Sonic, Earth really seems to be in need of your help right now." "If only there was..." Sonic replied with a disappointed look on his face.

Then, Sonic's eyes lit up. He had completely forgotten that Tails had invented a quick healing mechanism in the past. It was originally going to be installed into the Blue Typhoon, but it wasn't developed in time for the trip. It functioned by injecting extracts from rare Mobian herbs into one's body. "Tails developed a quick healing mechanism a while back. I think we should head over there and search for it!" He suggested to Amy as he sprang up from the couch. "I'll help you Sonic! Let's go!" Before Sonic had time to react, Amy grasped Sonic's hand and pulled him out the door without warning. He blushed a little bit from her reaction but it quickly faded.

_Looks like she's broke her promise…_ He thought to himself as he was pulled by the pink hedgehog. It wasn't until a few seconds that Amy realized what she was doing and let go of the cobalt hedgehog's hand. "Oh… right. I wasn't supposed to do that! Heh heh.." Amy caught herself and blushed. Sonic just simply nodded to her and smiled. _See? She might have been crazy about you before, but now, she can stop herself. Yeah, that is nice… _Sonic's thoughts once again functioned erratically inside his head. A few minutes of running passed by and they finally arrived there. He had slowed his pace down in order for Amy to keep up. Although she wasn't as fast as Sonic, she certainly could run. _Probably from all of those years chasing after me…_ Sonic thought and smiled as she arrived at Tails' doorstep. Sonic then lifted up Tails' door mat and grabbed a 'not-so-secret-anymore' key. "When did that get there?" Amy asked with a puzzled look on her face. "Tails told me about it a few months back. He even said these exact words, "My house is your house sonic!" and right now we are going to need it."

They quietly walked into his house and headed toward Tails' lab.. As they entered the fascinating room, they instantly start searching for the quick-healing mechanism. They looked through cabinets, drawers, and other containers for a few minutes. "Anything at all?" Sonic asked as he shut a wooden drawer he had looked through. "No sign at all sonic. Are you sure a quick healing device Even exists?" She asks "Yes, I remember him telling me all about it a few months ago. Hmmm... Aha! That's it!" Sonic exclaims as he snaps his fingers. He looked under a lab table and examined it. He then placed his hand on a hidden square panel. It scanned his hand and made a beep of confirmation. The panel then slid inwards and a compartment popped out from the side. Sonic then grabbed the awkwardly shaped objet and placed it on the table. He then read the label out loud: _Warning, overdoses may result in permanent brain damage and may lead to death._ Sonic then took out the herbs specified in the directions to operate the device. "And… that should do it!" He exclaims as he clutches the mechanism in his hand.

"Alright, now to insert the needle in my arm…" "Be careful Sonic! And make sure you hit the right vein! We have enough disaster as it is with Sunlight City and we don't need another." Amy told Sonic with a worried expression as she examined the directions herself. "Don't worry Ames, I'll be fine." He smiled to her with assurance. As soon as he injected the needle into his vein, he felt the burning cold liquid start to spread through his body.. "AAGH! My blood! It… feels like it's on f-fire!" Screamed the azure hedgehog with a deafening scream. "Sonic!" Amy screamed as she watched her cobalt hero scream in agony. Then, after a few mere moments, the pain ceased and vanished. The bruised and battered body that sonic had possessed for the past two days was renewed.

"Whew! I thought I screwed up there for a second!" Sonic said with a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness!" Amy exhaled also. She thought he had injected the wrong vein with the herbal extracts when he screamed in pain like that, and if that were to happen, the results would be fatal. "Alright, I've got a world to save." Sonic said heroically as he stood up. "Don't you mean 'We'? I need to go on an adventure too ya know! I'm sick of just staying here!" Amy replied to Sonic's surprise. "Hmm… I don't know…" Sonic thought out loud. "Pleeeeease Sonic? For me?" Amy begged as she stared him down with puppy-dog eyes. Amy's begging and desperate face made Sonic's heart give in. _Always gets me_ He thought. "Alright then… sure…" Sonic said with a hint of worry in his voice as he scratched his head. "Really? Thanks Sonic! She said as she hugged him. Not the type of hug that suffocated him, but a firm hug. "You're welcome. Just promise me something," He said After Amy let go of him and smiled at her. "Try to stay safe, please…" The cobalt hedgehog then corrected his earlier statement. "Alright then, _we've_ got a world to save!" "What are we waiting for then? LET'S GO!" Amy said as she once again grabbed Sonic's arm and headed over to Tails' teleportation device.

Sonic then heard his cell phone start ringing. "Hold on a sec Ames, I'm getting a call." Sonic told her nicely as she let go of him. _Shoot, I've got to get rid of these spasms I have. _The rose colored hedgehog thought to herself. "Sure." She replied. Sonic then proceeded to look at the number and couldn't recognize it at all. "Hmmm… I wonder who it is?" he said to himself. As soon as he answered his phone, an echidna's stubborn voice greets him. "Sonic?" A familiar voice says. "Knuckles? Aren't you and Tails on vacation in Sunlight City?" Sonic said in surprise, not expecting to get a call from them. Knuckles then replied, "Well we were, until most of Sunlight city was destroyed by that unknown metallic object! Thank God we weren't near there when it happened!" "Well that's where I'm heading right now. Where are you and Tails at?" Sonic questioned the echidna.

"We ended up going down south of Sunlight City to Leatherback Bay, but I guess we can still meet here. It's going to take a bit of time to get from here to Sunlight City though, but at least we'll all be together." The crimson echidna replied. "Sounds good, me and Amy will get there as soon as possible." Sonic informed Knuckles. "Wha.. what? Are you sure you want to bring your 'girlfriend' along?" Knuckles teased. "She's not my girlfriend! Cut it out! And yes, she's coming along. Is there a problem?" Sonic retaliated with a bright red muzzle. Amy overheard the comment and blushed herself and turned away so he couldn't see it. "No, not at all. Alright there, lover-boy. In any case, I'll see you shortly." Knuckles snickered as he hung up the phone. "Ehh.. whatever." Sonic muttered to himself as he shook his head and hung up the phone.

"So what did Knuckles call you for? It seemed like a bad time…" Amy questioned the azure hedgehog, walking over to him. "Well, he's doing the same thing we are, investigating this… 'thing', but we will be safer together with him and Tails which is probably why he called." Sonic explained to the Rose colored hedgehog. "Okay then. I'm ready to go, so let us begin this little 'adventure'" She said with a giggle and flirty wink. "Hehe.. yeah…" Sonic blushed heavily with a sweat drop forming as he scratched his head. Sonic then walked over to the teleportation device. He set the location to "Leatherback Bay" and turned the knob to use the device at will. "Ready?" Sonic asked the rose colored hedgehog. "Always been ready!" She replies with glee. "…..Go!" Sonic sshouted as he pressed the button to launch the device. Soon, both of them were covered with a bright light as they were then transported with a flash to their destination…

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**A/N:** Interesting! Knuckles, Rouge, and Omega have made their Debut in the series! WHOO! Haha, anyways I hope you guys enjoyed this part as I (sort of) enjoyed writing it! How will Shadow, Rouge, and Omega plan to defeat this new enemy? What will become of Snic and Amy meeting up with Knuckles and Tails? Find out in Part Five! Thanks for reading so far!


	5. Medical Chaos

_**Shadow: Dark Horizon**_

_**Part Five: Medical Chaos  
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A/N:** FINALLY! I'm so sorry for the long wait for this part guys! Stuff happened over the week that prevented me from working on it, (Plus I was lazy :/) Also, I want to give a special shout-out to Blue Kaous for the tips! I appreciate it a lot! So, after you punch me in the face for it taking so long, please enjoy the next part to Dark Horizon! I assure you, Twists await!  
**DISCLAIMER: ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO SEGA! (EXCEPT MINE)**

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**Leatherback Bay - Seashell Hotel**

After the red echidna had hung up the phone, he walked over to a couch and slowly sat down. Knuckles had just finished talking with Sonic and was trying to develop some ideas about their plan to investigate the enigmatic object. "Do you have any idea how we can do this? This thing looks like it means business." He asked Tails. "Well…" Tails said as he walked over to him, "We could go with what you said earlier. We'll just go as a group. We should come prepared though. I say gather up some supplies such as food and water. We could maybe get some use out of creating inventions as well." "What inventions could _you_ make for this situation?" The echidna asked with a hint of doubt.

"I don't know about you, but from the looks of things, armor would probably be our best friend in this situation. News reports say that fragments of crystals emerged from the object and are razor sharp. According to the footage that was broadcasted, they travel in swarms and pretty much suck up all of your energy to the bone." Tails explained. "Ouch…" The echidna winced at the thought. "What I would do though is utilize the energy from the shards and use them as the power sources for the armor suits. The energy given off by the shards will probably be able to absorb others as well, making the user of the suit immune to them." Tails explained. "It _could_ take some time though. My calculations predict that if we are able to extract at least five crystal fragments, the suit should run for about an hour. Look at it this way though, the shards that come into contact with the suit will be absorbed and transferred to the energy system. It's a win-win situation! The minimum estimated time to develop the armor would only be about two hours after creating a few blueprints for them. Although, I've already started constructing the frame so all I would need to do is insert the crystals into special compartments I made for them. It's that easy and should cut down the time." The golden fox explained to the crimson echidna, bewildered by his technical expressions.

"Yeah, you go ahead and do all of that… stuff. Anyways, I hope we have enough time because things are getting ugly in that crater. For all we know, the earth could go 'ka-boom' in an instant!" Knuckles replied with a distraught facial expression. "I'm only concerned of whether we can stand a chance against such a deadly force like this. And what makes it worse, WE WERE ON VACATION!" The echidna roared as he flailed his arms in the air. "Hey, it's not like I'm happy about it either, but we really have to put a lot of effort into this. The world might be counting on us." Tails told the echidna as he waved his limbs showing some hand expressions toward him. "Yeah, but don't forget about Sonic and Amy! They're coming pretty soon. I also wonder about Shadow, Omega, and even that jewel thief Rouge! Weren't they in the G.U.N. H.Q. building when the metallic object struck earth?" Knuckles questioned with a knot in his stomach. The room became quiet for a few seconds and then there was an answer. "Well we've got to keep our hopes up and stay positive! Knowing them, they probably found a way to survive…" Tails told the Echidna as he started heading toward his suitcase.

Everything fell silent as Tails started to pack his suitcase. Tails took advantage of the opportunity and used it as some thinking time. After the galactic clash between them and the Metarex, Tails had been deeply affected by it emotionally and mentally. The reason? Cosmo. It was all about Cosmo. In order to thwart Dark Oak's plans and defeat him once and for all, Cosmo had used the power from her sacred amulet and sacrificed herself. Dark Oak was too powerful, even against the likes of Super Sonic and Super Shadow, which forced the difficult decision to be made. What made the experience even more traumatic though, was the fact that Tails had to fire the Sonic Power Canon at Cosmo himself. Shooting his love… it was unthinkable. Tails had practically suffered a meltdown right before he had pushed the button that'd change his life forever. It was at the moment that Tails finally admitted that he loved her, and with a heavy heart and flowing eyes, he pushed it. Cosmo… just the name made haunting memories float back into his mind.

He had tried coping with it when he had first arrived home, but it was no use. Had it really been two years already? _Cosmo… _Tails halted his thought however. _Stop it Tails! Thinking about her is only going to make it worse. But I can't… she was… my special one… As hard as it is Tails, you've got to move on. This is not the time and place to be thinking about this stuff. Another breakdown isn't something we want right now… Yeah, you're right… but it's just so darn difficult. Hush, just clear your mind…_ The thoughts inside his head raged a constant battle that seemed to never end. Why wouldn't it? He was practically torn over the whole situation and it was killing him inside. _I guess I know how Shadow feels, ha. No wonder he's so negative and emotionless._ The Golden fox thought to he was finally able to clear his mind of Cosmo, he walked over to a nearby chair and flopped onto it.

Meanwhile, a certain red echidna was fidgeting with his hands, still pondering about the current situation. Over the past two years, the echidna had still been doing what he did best: Guarding the ancient jewel called the Master Emerald. In just those two short years, Knuckles had started to grow weary of just standing guard and watching the oversized gem. It was a lonely and quiet job. He'd get a visit from Rouge every once in a while, trying to persuade him to lend her the master emerald or taunt him to where his short fuse was lit. Besides that though, that was it. Sure, there'd be an occasional Eggman incident here and there, but it started to get pretty boring. Heck, that was the only time that Knuckles would even be able to interact with his friends due to his commitments with the Master Emerald. It was the key to everything though. After Knuckles had Tails help him install a security system for the Master Emerald Shrine, he had wanted to take a break and just flat out relax. He had invited Sonic to go on vacation with him and Tails, but he insisted and said that he'd stay on Mobius to stand guard against Eggman if he decided to attack. Well, that was Sonic for you though. Justice flowed through his veins at all times, no matter what…

**Sunlight City - West Parkway**

_Hmph, you think there'd be a hospital or at least a team of paramedics around right?_ Shadow angrily thought with a vein throbbing in his head as he carried the white bat. "Hey Omega, do you think you'd be able to scan the city for any hospitals near us?" Shadow asked as he slowed his pace down a bit. "Unable to scan due to high heat levels in the atmosphere." Omega replied, making Shadow start to growl from the reaction. "Come on…, we've gotta find something fast. Rouge doesn't have all the time in the world." Shadow analyzed as he scratched his head. "But I don't feel _that _bad. My legs are only getting a bit numb." Rouge said back to Shadow with a confident expression. Shadow just shook his head at her response. _I guess no one can convince her…_The group continued searching and a few minutes went by without the three even uttering a word.

"Hey, hey you!" They heard a voice in the distance. "Who's there? Show yourself! _Now_!" Shadow commanded as he readied himself for combat in a battle stance. A middle-aged man then walked out from behind a piece of rubble. He was of average height with brown hair and a beard. "Your friend here looks like she needs some help. Her legs are pretty beat up." The man informed as he walked up to the trio. "Wait a minute, just who are you anyway?" Shadow asked rashly. "Yes, who are you?" Omega asked with a nicer tone than Shadow. "The name is John S. Goldman, and I am at your service for medical needs!" he told them as he showed a bright smile."Uh huh, sure. Omega, scan for that name." Shadow ordered as the Doctor's bright smile quickly faded. "Scanning Personal Record of John S. Goldman." Omega stated as a green light moved across Goldman's face. "Sources indicate that he is a certified doctor, and a well known one too."

"Well, then if you can Mr. Goldman, please fix up my friend's legs." Shadow asked politely, now feeling like an idiot for doubting him earlier. "Sure thing, I'm willing to help anyone in this chaos right now anyway." the doctor said. He then walked back to the pile of rubble and grabbed a medical bag with many pockets and pouches.. "Now, I'm going to have to stitch up your wounds and clean them OK?" John told Rouge as he approached her kneeled down to her level. "Ok then Doctor, work away, and fast please." She asked with a weird face. The doctor injected a numbing solution into each of Rouge's legs which caused her partially numb legs to now become completely numb. As soon as the needle punctured her skin, she winced in pain and closed her eyes. "Ow!" Rouge exclaimed. After a few short moments, the pain faded away. "Sorry if that hurt. My bad." The doctor told her with a look of pity. He then removed her boots and started putting stitches in her legs. "I..I think I'm getting a little woozy..." Rouge mumbled as she watched her skin get stitched up. "Look away." the doctor instructed her. "That should help."

While Rouge was getting fixed up, Shadow and Omega were both sitting on a sidewalk a few yards away. "You know, I wonder if G.U.N. _has_ responded to this situation in any way. I think I should try and contact them and see what's really going on." Shadow told Omega as he stood up and aimed his gaze toward the black and red robot. "Searching for signals..." Omega told him as his eyes turned yellow from the process. "Signal detected. Source: Centurion Tower." Omega then tried to connect to them by sending messages by signal at the right frequency. A microphone then popped out of one of Omega's chest compartments. Shadow then took the moment to speak into it. "This is Shadow the Hedgehog, come in, do you read?" A static silence was all that was heard. Then a man spoke.

"We read you loud and clear. We've been searching all over for you, where have you been?" Shadow then changed the tone in his voice. "Not at G.U.N. HQ. The place has been demolished and I wasn't able to find many survivors. I'm about two miles north of the area though." Shadow explained. "So I've heard. Just to let you know, that huge object has been decimating things by the second! Time is of the essence right now!" The man informed Shadow. "Well, if time is of the essence, why haven't you guys been around in the area?" Shadow retorted. "Not in the area? Heh, you've got to be joking! We've been using Centurion Tower as a temporary camp for G.U.N. agents until they go out into battle!" The man answered with an agitated tone. "Well it isn't around here and I haven't heard a thing about it!' Shadow complained as he closed his eyes and crossed his arms. "You better come here then. That way you can regroup with us and get back to full strength." The man offered to shadow with a half-hesitant tone. "Yeah… sure…" Shadow sarcastically replied as he cocked his head. "That sounds very assuring." The man sarcastically replied back.

"Anyways, have you guys collected any kind of intel on the object?" Shadow asked, now with a serious tone. "Only estimates." The man replied. "From aerial views, we can only see a zoomed in image of the object due to the dangerous heat levels." "And…?" Shadow impatiently edged toward the G.U.N. operator. "We've discovered something that's quite interesting regarding the surface of the object."He explained. "The image indicated that the object had not one, or two, or even three, but _seven _colored crystal pillars piercing outward." Shadow froze from the response. "W-What colors were they?" He asked with a haunting tone. "I figured you would ask that. The colors were green, white, red, blue, cyan, yellow and purple." He quietly told him.

Shadow's stomach churned from the response. _Impossible. Unthinkable. _His thoughts loomed about inside his head. "All right, tell me honestly. Is that 'thing' related to the Chaos Emeralds?" Shadow commanded with a blunt tone. "In truth, we don't know for sure yet. It's likely though, that's for sure. "All right then, I'll make sure to contact you guys later. Shadow the Hedgehog, out. Shadow just stood, frozen as Omega retracted the microphone that was used for contact. "Might I make a suggestion?" Omega mentioned to Shadow, breaking his train of thought. "Go ahead, shoot." Shadow answered with no emotion. "Like Rouge mentioned earlier, we really should just seek out Sonic and his friends for help. We can't run this as a three man – and woman show." Omega reasonably explained. "How many times do I have to tell you and Rouge? No! That's it! We don't need help from them and that is _certain_!" Shadow roared at the robot with rage. "Your choice." Omega replied dryly as he started walking back over to Rouge.

Shadow then took notice and followed behind, soon cutting in front of him. As they approached the doctor, they heard him talking with the white bat. "Everything should be fine from this point on. Within a few hours, your legs should be back to full strength." The doctor explained to Rouge. "Well, it's not instant, but it'll do. Thanks for the help!" Rouge told him as she slowly and steadily stood up. "Oh, and another thing." The doctor pulled out a black container. "I suggest you take these in that time frame to ya know, ease out the pain?" Rouge looked at them. "That sounds great and all doctor, but what on earth are they? They smell funny." Rouge said as she twitched her face. "They're painkillers." Shadow said as he walked up. "They pretty much reduce the amount of pain that you would normally experience." "That would definitely help me walk instead of having one of you two carry me." Rouge told Shadow and Omega. "I know you'll miss it though!" Shadow jokingly mentioned to Rouge. "Pfft. Yeah right, hedgehog!" Rouge retorted with a grin.

"Just to give you some info Rouge, I was able to contact G.U.N. few minutes ago. I've also been informed that they have a temporary camp set up at some place called 'Centurion Tower', although I have no clue where it's at." Shadow explained to the recovering bat. "It's about time. It seemed at first like they weren't going to do a thing at all." Rouge impatiently responded. Shadows face then grew dark when he remembered the _other_ information he was told. _That can wait for later_ he thought to himself. Omega shot Shadow a glance by swiftly rotating his head to aim his gaze at Shadow. Shadow just shook his head in response. "All right, it's time to venture onward." Shadow informed the group. "Thanks for the help doctor, we – or she, needed it." Shadow thanked as the trio started to walk away. "Sure thing, and good luck to all of you!" The doctor exclaimed as he too started to walk away in a different direction. As the trio walked, Shadow couldn't help but be concerned. _Are they… Chaos or not…?_

_

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**A/N: **Yeah, things are gonna heat up in the next part that's for sure! By that I mean battle! And we also just got a horrifying piece of info from G.U.N. Are the Chaos Emeralds related to this enigmatic object, or are they just false readings? How will Shadow, Rouge, and Omega fare against the new threat in the coming moments? What will happen when Knuckles and Tails meet up with Sonic and Amy? Find out in part six! I promise it won't take this long for a part again!Thanks for reading so far!


	6. Crossroads

_**Shadow: Dark Horizon**_

**_Part Six: Crossroads_  
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**A/N:** Wow, this took FOREVER! I took WAY too long on this part I will say, and I broke my promise! :/ Oh, well. You live and learn right? Anyways. the wait is worth it for you guys because this is the longest chapter written so far! Yay! Oh, and I made corrections to my formatting too! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! It's action packed to say the least! :D

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**Sunlight City - Crater**

The huge Crystalloid was firmly lodged into the earth, setting off explosions and digging into it deeper each minute. The object emitted a sound similar to that of a crumbling building. Part of the exterior shell cracked and shook which gave off multi-colored light. Then the enemy arose. Crystals that grew several feet from the center of the crystalloid sprouted up out of the ground, unearthing any kind of scrap metal and rubble near them. The terrifying towers of crystal were taller than their producer, almost like trees sprouting from roots.

There were several colors, seven to be exact, and each shined it with an aggressive gleam. Green, purple, blue, cyan, white, red, and finally yellow. The crystals that swarmed around like bees earlier then started to orbit around the Crystalloid, like asteroids orbiting around a planet. Then all of a sudden, they were pulled in close, and then in the blink of an eye were shot out in all directions with a blinding shockwave of light. The powerful pulse surged through nearby skyscrapers and other buildings, making them implode on contact.

**Sunlight City - King's Bridge**

The trio directed their attention toward the scene of destruction. The area was completely obliterated and the sound given off was loud even from a distance. They stared in horror as the rubble was sucked into the Crystalloid and then disintegrated in a flash.

"No way..." Shadow whispered in shock.

"That thing..." Rouge breathed in disbelief, "It just took out that entire area of the city in an instant!"

"According to some of the waves I have scanned, the Crystalloid sets off an energy pulse about every fifteen minutes, each getting stronger and stronger as it moves deeper into the earth." The robot informed them as he looked at both of them.

"You've got to be joking! How are we going to be able to even go _near_ the area? Let alone even _attempt_ to stop the object?" Shadow questioned the robot as he closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Well, the Chaos Emeralds hold enough power to deflect the pulse of the wave off since they have the same type of energy..." Omega said.

"Hold on, what? _Same_ energy?" Shadow cut Omega off as his eyes quickly shot back open from the terrifying words. "That's… impossible. Nothing is as powerful as the seven chaos emeralds or the Master Emerald." Shadow tried to discredit the robot.

"The information you're implying is false." Omega says with a sharp robotic tone. "Don't forget, Dr. Eggman stored a fragment of the Master Emerald in me in order to track the Chaos Emeralds. There's no way my scanner is off."

"He's got a strong point Shadow. Who knows? This thing might be heavily related to the Chaos Emeralds more than you know. I was – still am a jewel specialist! Trust me, the Crystalloid bares several things that resemble the Chaos Emeralds, for example, the colors of all seven Chaos Emeralds are shown on the exterior part of it."The jewel connoisseur explained to Shadow, pointing out many facts.

"The colors are just a coincidence! You have no proof! I _will not_ believe it!" Shadow screamed in his denial.

"You have to look at the possibilities though." Rouge told Shadow, trying to convince him.

Shadow just kept quiet and thought to himself. He couldn't believe what his ears were hearing. Even for the Ultimate Life-form, it was quite mind-boggling. "Hmph" He grunted as he kicked a rock nearby while walking on the enormous bridge. Then out of nowhere, an enormous explosion occurred at the sight of the Crystalloid, triggering a small earthquake that surged through the city. The ground rattled with violent force, also effecting King's Bridge.

"Grab something! _Quick_!" He bellowed to his comrades.

A huge piece of red crystal was sent flying from the crater and quickly collided into the center of the bridge. The bridge was then split in half by the crystal on contact and lit it on fire.

"What the heck is this?" Shadow roared as he witnessed the chaos. "Grab on to something! Don't fall in the water!" He screamed towards the group.

"Oh my God! What is going on?" Rouge questioned with distress as she clung on to the side of the bridge.

Omega simply just dug his fists firmly into the steel and held on, contemplating a plan. Soon, Rouge was able to get herself steady enough, and took off in a swift flight back to the direction where they had come from. As she made it back to land, she glimpsed over her shoulder and saw that the other two were slowly making their way back to land.

_Lucky she has wings._ The ebony hedgehog thought to himself as he saw her land on solid ground.

Shadow was clung on to the pavement of the slanted bridge, now starting to head toward land more quickly. Then a blinding light was emitted from the red crystal slab. Thousands of tiny crystal shards were deposited from it. The ruby particles then divided themselves into ten groups, making a clattering sound from the process. Without warning, they started to combine together, making ten bodies of ruby mass start to rise. The light surrounding them wore off after a few seconds, but then it revealed something. Shadow eyes grew wide as he viewed the scene. The jagged creatures started to gain balance and stand on the awkwardly slanted middle of the bridge. They had two legs that had blades on the end of them, and also garnered metallic spikes emerging from their forearms, back, and head. They were pure crystal with a rugged exoskeleton made of a shiny metal. The bodies of the creatures were lit up with red light, clearly showing they didn't want peace.

"Shadow! Omega! Hurry!" Rouge screamed at them as the ten crystal death machines start to charge towards her allies.

"Oh, so they think they can get a cheap shot?" Shadow yelled at the creatures. "Better think again! Chaos Blast!" Shadow roared as he hurled a crimson sphere at one of the creatures.

The beam simply grazed one of the creatures and they kept advancing toward him.

"Threat detected." Omega informed Shadow.

"Ya think?" Shadow sarcastically replied back as he furrowed his eyebrow.

Omega just gave him a blank expression and started to brace himself, as if a wave was about to hit him.

"Shadow, I've got a plan." Omega informed the shady hedgehog.

"Hit me." Shadow replied as he gave him an expression of curiosity.

Then, with the release of his mechanical fingers, Omega let go and he started to slide down the slanted asphalt.

"Omega! What are you doing?" Shadow cried out to him as he extended his arm, even though he was far too distant to grab him.

"Commencing the plan," He replied back.

With the force of him sliding, it gave Omega a large boost of momentum. When Omega approached the enemy, he propelled himself upwards and came down with both of his hands, bashing one the creature's head downwards. The impact caused the monstrosity to move forwards and then fall backwards with a loud 'smash'. Another creature nearby glanced at him, turning his head from side to side, and then forcefully grabbed Omega. The creature held Omega easily with one hand. Off in the distance, a worried Rouge gasped and put her hand across her mouth. An acuminous blade then emerged from its forearm unexpectedly.

"Don't even think about it!" Shadow barked at the menacing foe. He then uttered the sacred words... "CHAOS CONTROL!" And In a flash, time and space was frozen.

Shadow slid down the asphalt and sprinted to the location of the creature and placed his hand on the extended spike.

"Chaos… _BLAST_!" He powerfully bellowed.

The blue and red beam incinerated the blade and part of the creatures arm completely. As time resumed, the creature relieved its' grasp and Omega quickly relocated a few feet away. The creature screeched in pain and took a few steps back with shock in its red eyes. And then, with a swing of its' fist, Shadow was sent a few feet in the air by a wicked uppercut. In mid-motion he regained his balance and boosted his shoes downward and performed a flying kick right to the creature's face. Shadow's sturdy boots broke off pieces of the monster's face from the impact. The creature is thrust back several feet, close to the edge of the broken bridge. It is then that Shadow got an idea.

"Push them into the water!" He informed Omega loudly. Shadow then lunged and grabbed the creature with both of his hands without thinking. Big mistake. The sharp edges cut his hands and he recoiled in pain. The creature then decided to take advantage of the situation. It slashed and punched at a stunned Shadow, cutting him a few times in the process. It then delivers a sharp blow with its' studded forearm. Shadow is sent back from the force and he lowered his head. He then showed is face and showed a dark grin.

"Heh, that's the best you've got?" He taunted with a dark voice.

The Crystal like creature then lunged at him and seemingly pinned Shadow to the ground. Shadow simply closed his eyes and focused. In an instant, he opened his eyes and pushed his hands upward. "Chaos Bolt!" He screamed. Out of his palms came a green electric current that blasted clear through the creature's body. Omega saw an opportunity and speed boosted. He quickly slammed right into the crystal creature, smashing it into three pieces. The other nine noticed the powerful forces and they all started to charge the two powerhouses.

"That's it. I'm tired of being on the sideline. Time to join the fight!" Rouge pep talked herself and immediately took flight towards the site of the skirmish.

She collided with one of the creatures and sent it smacking into a bridge rail with a downward spiral kick. Shadow summoned a ball of cyan energy into his hand and shoved It into one of the creatures faces, completely melting the armor around it. He then proceeded to Chaos Roundhouse the creature, kicking it backwards into another sending both of them off of the bridge and into the water below. Omega decided to take on two at once. He grabbed both of them and smashed them into one another. He then fired two micro missiles at both of the creatures and blew a hole completely through them. In mid-air, Omega rocket boosted and grasped them both, also tossing them into the water below. Rouge continued her combat with one of the creatures by evading its' jabs, lunges, and slashes. She then retaliated by doing an uppercut back-flip kick combo on it. The creature is forced near the edge after the complicated move and Rouge casually approached it. She simply placed her finger on the creatures chest and lightly pushed. The creature easily gave way and plummeted down to the ocean.

Things started to go bad however. The four Crystal creatures that remained intact started to synthesize into one huge monster. It stood on four legs and had two legs sticking through its' back like extended appendages. Spikes emerged from its' back, it's shoulders, and even its' face. The crystal portion of his body was at a high temperature and made the area around it steam and start to burn away. The creature roared in a high pitched metallic sound, breaking car windows nearby, causing the trio to cover their ears and take cover behind an overturned car.

"It just gets better and better doesn't it? Alright, we need a plan, and fast!" Shadow advised to the group.

"Shadow, I'll fly behind the head while you attack. I believe I see some sort of weak spot." The white bat informed him.

"Alright then, I'll use my ice based attacks. Good thing I mastered them…" He replied back."Omega, do you have any water based weaponry at your disposal?"

"Affirmative. I'll fire at the stomach with my aqua blaster." The machine replied.

"Sounds good." Shadow agreed, and then expressed a haunting grin. "Showtime."

As the trio revealed themselves out in the open, the creature unexpectedly started to glow a bright red color. The chest quickly opened up and discharged a powerful laser

"Move! _Now_!" Shadow screamed as he and the others evaded the bright crimson beam.

The scarlet stream of energy zapped right through the crippled bridge, creating a serious hole.

"Holy... It can fire lasers?" Shadow shouted in shock.

"Apparently!" Rouge sarcastically replied after getting back on her feet.

"You showed _your_ laser, now I'll show _mine_!" Shadow roared.

He put his hands together and gathered energy, creating a pale blue aura around it. Rouge swiftly flew behind the creature while it was distracted by Shadow's charging beam. Shadow's began to tremble from the rush of energy and his body shook. He then opened his palms and pushed forward, shooting the beam. The ice-cold beam clashed the creature making it cry out from the frozen pain. As Shadow did this, Rouge was able to locate an orange colored swelling on the back of the creature's head.

"There you are…" She mumbled to herself as she screw-kicked the swelled mass.

Already chilled with the ice, the creature was now temporarily paralyzed from the consistent blows. Omega then opened up his chest compartment to reveal a canon. Blue lights illuminated the weapon before it fired. As it hit the icy spot Shadow had inflicted on the creature, the water began to freeze also, making it writhe in even more pain. The monstrosity cried and thrashed about, flailing it's oversized appendages. Then out of nowhere, one of its' extra appendages violent smashed into Rouge above.

"Ow, let go of me!" She cried as she struggled to break free from its' grasp.

After constricting Rouge, it forcefully launched her into a nearby cargo truck.

Shadow's eyes grew wide in horror. "You want to play? It's _on_!"

Omega uncovered his shoulder plates and revealed two missiles. He glanced over at Shadow who nodded at the response. Omega then directed his aim towards the extra two arms on the creatures back.

"Target locked, firing." The destructive robot said as he launched four micro missiles at the creature.

The two missiles collided into each appendage, making the creature recoil in the process. The extra arms were now hanging on by a thread and Shadow quickly thought of an idea. He sprinted toward the creature and it fired a laser at him in retaliation. Shadow simply faked the creature out and juked to his left. He then propelled off the ground and hurled an ice sphere, slicing off the two appendages. The creature was wailing from the injuries now.

"Time to finish this…" Shadow mumbled to himself.

He began to charge his ice beam again, but was then smashed by the creature's forearm, gashing Shadow's chest in the process. The monstrosity then shot a green laser from its' mouth, hitting Shadow and hurling him downwards onto the asphalt. Omega saw this occur and retaliates. He fires four micro missiles again, aimed right at the target's head. As the missiles approach it, the creature pushes its' hand forward and deflected them, flying back into Omega. The missiles explode and he is thrown back against a bridge bracer. The creature then picked up a nearby semi-trucks and quickly hurled it at Omega. As soon as the truck hit Omega, it exploded, lighting the whole side of the bridge on fire. Shadow, opened his eyes.

_Was I really hit that hard? Dang. Well, this things going d-_ His thoughts paused as he viewed his surroundings.

He saw the flame covered side of the bridge and saw Omega, completely knocked out, laying in the blaze. He then gazed over at Rouge's position and saw that she was also knocked out. She had brusises on her head and a few cuts on her body. Shadow was overwhelmed and surprised. The creature then noticed that Shadow was up and turned in his direction. It stared and Shadow and laughed with a metallic voice. Shadow paused from the laughter.

_That laugh sounds so… familiar. Too familiar… almost like it was in my… _Shadow was interrupted as the creature swung its' arm and bashed Shadow into the ground.

Although light-headed from the collision, he quickly stood up, determined.

"You'll pay…" He mumbled with a haunting tone.

The creature went to bash him again, however this time, Shadow countered it. Shadow pushed his fists against the creature's arm, slowly gaining the upper-hand and also feeling the burning heat that emitted from it. Shadow then started to charge his ice beam again, and it caused his hands to start freezing the creature's arm. The monster quickly lost strength and Shadow launched his attack. The ice beam shot right through the creature's arm, shattering it upon impact. The creature backed up from Shadow and roared in agony. Shadow then ran up to the beast and braced his arms against the core.

"Join your friends!" He snarled as he emitted a sky blue shockwave that made its' exoskeleton crack and become fragile.

The creature simply stood, and the light illuminating its' body began to flicker. After producing the shockwave, Shadow pushed the creature off the edge with a powerful shove, sending it to its' watery doom.

"Phew, talk about having your hands full…" Shadow mumbled as he walks away from the ledge.

He headed toward Rouges location. She was still unconscious, but still breathing too. Shadow tapped her forehead, and then she shot up out of her position.

"Who's that?" Rouge exclaimed in a confused state, but then realized where she was and just shook her head.

"I thought you actually lost it there…" Shadow joked with a grin.

"You think you're funny, don't you? Guess what? You're not." Rouge retorted back.

"I see both of you are OK." A robotic voice was heard. It was Omega.

"I thought you were… never mind." Shadow responded in shock as he was greeted by the machine.

"Fire resistant metal. Good thing the doctor installed it, or I wouldn't be here right now." Omega told them as he pounded his chest.

"Ok. I just have one question though." Rouge told Shadow. "You still want to head over to that thing?"

Shadow thought about the circumstance. They needed some form of good rest and recovery, but with a place like this, that wasn't likely to happen at all.

"I think we should push forward guys.." Before he could even finish speaking, Rouge cut him off.

"What? Are you crazy? How do you expect us to battle a huge army of monstrosities when we were almost wiped out by _ten_?" Rouge angrily questioned Shadow.

"They have weaknesses and we can find them! Let's finish this _now_! We have no time don't you see?" Shadow barked back at the stubborn bat.

"Why in a rush though? It's not like the world is going to end if we don't go right now!" Rouge questioned.

"Oh, and you just know that for sure, right?" Shadow shouted back.

"Well you don't know either hedgehog!" Rouge retorted as she turned her back on him.

"You know what? _Fine_! You go ahead and be careless! I'll continue and _actually_ go oppose this threat!" Shadow bellowed, with his eyes glowing from rage.

"Shadow! You don't mean that... Do you?" Rouge exclaimed in disbelief. Shadow stayed silent, and then made up his mind. "Well I'm leaving, go find a place to rest or whatever. C'mon Omega."

"Negative." Omega responded, much to Shadow's dismay.

"Excuse me?" Shadow questioned.

"Considering my calculations, Rouge's decision would seem to give out a better outcome." Omega explained to the confused and angered hedgehog.

"Fine. I see how it is. _Leave_! Just… _leave_…"

Shadow exploded at his comrades and left them as he started walking in the Crystalloid's direction.. Rouge opened her mouth to speak, but just fell silent. She and Omega turned around and went in the opposite direction. Rouge frowned and repeatedly looked back at Shadow as she walked away from him. As he began to cross the crippled bridge, he noticed he couldn't stop staring back at his two friends. Omega followed closely behind Rouge and kept watch for enemies as they walked.

Shadow frowned from the broken emotions inside him. _"If only you were here Maria..." _He thought to himself. _"Maybe… just maybe… things would be entirely different…" _What was once unity, was now separation...

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**A/N:** Awww c'mon Shadow? Why do you have to be such a lone wolf? Yea, Shadow thinks he can do things his own way, but maybe he's wrong. How will Shadow cope by himself? Will he just eradicate the threat himself or will he need help in the end? What will become of Rouge and Omega? Stay tuned for Part Seven! I'll make sure I don't take as long next time! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! :) Make sure to Review if you can!


	7. Out of the Ordinary

**Shadow: Dark Horizon P7**

**Part Seven: Out of the Ordinary****  
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**A/N: **Holy. Crap. This is the first part I've released in almost 2 months! 2 MONTHS! Shame on me! No really, shame on me for being lazy until now to type it haha. Well anyways, this next part is going to be filler and NOT filler at the same time (OXYMORON). I recommend you keep a sharp eye out there for details cause there's alot of them. There's also a ton of dialogue too (Which I think I've improved on just a bit.) Anyways, sorry this took so long... and I'll stop blabbering right now... ON WITH IT!  
P.S. Thanks for the feedback! :) It helps inspire me to write!

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**Leatherback Bay - Seaway Boulevard**

A white light emerged from the middle of a sidewalk. It shot out sparks and produced a sparkling light. Then, two hedgehogs, one blue and one pink, were tossed from it.

"Well, that was _definitely_ quicker than I thought it would take! Talk about fast!" Sonic said in shock as he landed on the ground.

He quickly bolted to his feet and helped the rose colored hedgehog beside him get up.

"But not as fast… as _you_…" Amy said in a flirtatious tone as she winked at him.

"Heh heh… yeah…" Sonic nervously replied as his face instantly flushed red and gave Amy a nervous look.

"Oh… right. My bad…" Amy nervously smiled as she remembered her promise.

"Alright then, now it's time to call good 'ol Knucklehead and Tails to see where they are at.". The cyan hedgehog mentioned as he pulled a cell phone out from underneath his quills.

He then quickly dialed the number that Knuckles had used to call them earlier and turned on the speaker. After a few seconds of ringing, the call was met with an impatient Knuckles answering the phone.

"It's about time you called!" The crimson echidna abruptly answered. "Crazy things have been happening since you two love birds have been messing around!"

Amy blushed lightly from Knuckles' reaction while Sonic just shook his head.

"So what, did you just expect me to run through space and get there in a second? Its _way_ more complicated than that Knux. You of all people should know that… oh, and we're _not_ love birds!" Sonic sharply informed the echidna as his face colored pink from his last remark.

Knuckles just sighed and then snickered.

"Sure sure, that's probably why you're late _isn't_ it?" The echidna spoke as he fought back a laugh.

"Oh yeah, like you're one to talk. I bet when it comes to Rouge you'd forget all about your precious Master Emerald…" Sonic remarked with a witty tone.

The echidna's face flushed red and a vein throbbed in his head. "Shut it, Blue! I swear if you make another remark like that again I'm gonna…"

"For crying out loud Knuckles! Just tell us where you are and we can get there _a lot _quicker!" An annoyed Amy interrupted "Unless you want me to announce to everyone what you really think about Rouge…"

"Uh… that won't be necessary." The now sweating emerald guardian replied. "I can just give you directions to the hotel and you should be there fast."

"That'd be great. Now then, what's the place called?" The azure hedgehog questioned as he folded his arms and firmly stood on the ground.

"It's called the Seashell Hotel…" Knuckles started to speak but was then cut off by an excited Amy.

"Wait a minute… _the_ Seashell Hotel?" Amy squealed with joy as Sonic just looked at her and shrugged.

"Hey Ames, what's the big deal about the hotel?" He said as he scratched one of his quills.

"What? You've never heard of the Seashell Hotel? It is only one of the highest rated hotels on Earth and is supposed to be located on this beautiful beach and have a _romantic_ setting and…" Amy explained as she started to day dream. She quickly caught her behavior however, and rapidly shook her head. "So... where are you two at?" The echidna asked.

Sonic turned his head around and spotted a green road sign. "According to the sign, we are on Seaway Boulevard." Sonic replied as he aimed his gaze.

"Wow, really? Ok then, just take it a few miles south and you should find it!" He said in a surprised state.

"Cool! We'll be there in a few minutes!" Sonic happily replied.

"See ya." Knuckles said back as he hung up the phone.

After placing his phone back under one of his quills he quickly approached Amy.

"Come on Amy!" He told her as he picked her up and sped off.

Amy was caught off guard, but soon realized what had happened. She smiled to herself and slowly leaned her head against Sonic's air enforced chest. As he sprinted, he felt the warmth from Amy's head and slightly pulled his body back. Amy knew what that response meant and pulled her head back.

_I should've known it was too good to be true._ She thought as she shook her head.

Even though the speeding hedgehog was focused on the road, he sensed the hurt he caused right then and there.

_Why does it bother me so much? It's so different… more than ever before! _

After pondering about their emotions, the hedgehog pair arrived at the acclaimed hotel within a few minutes. As soon as Amy was let down by Sonic, her jaw dropped from the décor of the huge foundation. Sonic merely face-palmed and walked in the double-doors as Amy trailed slowly behind him. When the two hedgehogs entered the lobby, they were met by a pair of familiar faces.

"Hey Sonic! Hey Amy!" Tails happily greeted them.

He approached Sonic and performed a best friend hand shake that they had worked on, and gave Amy a friendly hug. Knuckles just simply walked up and waved.

"Hello to you too Knuckles…" Amy remarked as she noticed his slight discontent.

"Awww… is Knux still mad about who we talked about earlier?" Sonic taunted as he woefully spoke to the crimson guardian.

"That's it!" Knuckles yelled as he curled his fingers into a fist. Right before he jabbed the hedgehog, Tails held back his arm.

"Relax. We're not here to revisit old anger. You two should be _well_ over that fight. It was almost 2 months ago!" He explained firmly.

"Yeah, but he's the one who started it!" Knuckles yelled as he pointed his finger at the azure hedgehog.

"No, it was you!" Sonic yelled as they started exchanging insults.

Amy just looked at Tails and shook her head. _They're hopeless. _She thought.

Tails quickly jumped in between them to avoid physical contact. "Both of you stop. We're all here right now to eradicate the problem in Sunlight City right here are we not?" Tails spoke as he flailed his hands.

"Your problem is _right_ here!" Knuckles growled as he pointed at the speed demon.

"_ENOUGH_!" Amy screamed as she whacked Knuckles on the head. Knuckles' face recoiled from the blow and quickly halted his actions. Sonic shortly did also.

"…_Anyways_, I have a question." Why are you guys here of all places to be for a vacation?" Sonic asked his red and gold pals.

"It's a _really_ long story and I don't think you wanna hear it…" Knuckles tried avoiding the conversation, but was then interrupted by a certain two-tailed fox.

"We were on a plane headed toward a city at the Southern tip of Africa in order to take a research trip to Antarctica, but as soon as that object hit Sunlight City, all air trafficking was put to halt. Since this hotel was the only one nearby, we just decided to stay here until we could get back to Mobius." Tails explained calmly.

"Antarctica though? Why there of all places? You'd freeze to death!" Amy asked with confusion.

"Yeah, you can go get a cold rush if you wanted to just by going up into the mountains on Mobius." Sonic told the Fox who quickly countered his statement.

"I'm aware of that, but the reason I wanted to go to Antarctica was because of some odd readings off of my Energy scanner. Knuckles here wanted to try some endurance training out in the cold while I researched data."

"It is just energy readings… what's so important about that?" Amy asked as she shrugged.

"Well, my scanner reaches out far into the Milky Way Galaxy, detecting all sorts of energy including Chaos Energy, the type found in Chaos Emeralds. When last Month's scanning reports came in, the scanner picked up an unusual boost of that energy in an area of Antarctica, which is _very_ weird in my opinion. What was even more mind-boggling was that the energy levels matched those of a _single_ Chaos Emerald." He explained onwards.

"So… what does this mean then? Are there other Chaos Emeralds we don't know about or something?" Knuckles asked as he quickly gained more interest in the conversation.

"Possible but I'm doubtful." Tails informed him.

"I thought only seven were created though? The legends say that themselves. Plus, why would they be on Earth of all places?" Sonic asked as he scratched his quill.

"I'm confused about it myself, but I'm almost certain that the object that crashed in Sunlight City earlier may hold the answer this problem" He announced.

"Well what are we waiting for then? Let's tackle this thing!" Sonic quickly said as he jumped with excitement.

"Yeah, I'm in on this too!" Knuckles responded as he threw his fist into the air.

"Consider me in also!" Amy said as she smiled.

"Why not? Just like old times, right?" Tails also responded as a grin came over his face.

"I must warn you though. The energy I'm getting from this object is way off the charts. It's unlike anything I've ever seen before and has danger written all over it. Just letting you guys know ahead of time… oh, and it is about 40 miles north of here." He informed his friends as his gin faded.

"Psh. Danger is my middle name!" Sonic replied as Knuckles shook his head. _But Amy isn't… _Sonic's thoughts told him. _Stop overreacting! She'll be safe and sound. No need to worry at all._Sonic shook his head real quick and then focused on everyone else.

"Way to be cheesy Sonic. Nice job…" He sarcastically spoke.

"I think I've been through enough where I could handle it." Amy explained.

Sonic's heart cringed at the response but shook it off.

"Great! I'm gonna finish packing up here and then we'll be on our way." Tails explained as he headed for his room. After a few minutes passed by, Tails reappeared in the lobby with a backpack full of tech-based items.

"All right then, it's time to show this enemy who we are! Let's go!" The group cheered and they headed out of the building traveling north toward Sunlight City.

As Sonic led the group, he noticed something that didn't occur to him earlier. Not one soul was present in the area. No one but them...

**Sunlight City - Ocean Spine Parkway**  
Shadow soon walked off of the bridge and back onto land. The large red crystal that had crashed into it earlier depleted the bridge's foundations and had completely crippled it, making it a bit of a pain to cross. The events that had occurred earlier bugged his conscious, and bothered him beyond relief. He was still angry at himself for having to abandon his friends, for it was not what he truly wanted. It wasn't a good way to raise his spirit for whatever battles he was going to face up ahead. 

_Shadow, stop bugging yourself. You did the right thing, and that's that. _His conscious assured him. Minutes seemed to last for hours and the view of the crystalloid barely became larger. As He traveled, he still wondered why G.U.N. hadn't sent any kind of military response, or at least as an effort. They didn't seem to be too concerned about the H.Q. building being destroyed either, which usually would've caused a full scale invasion against whoever committed it. Nothing made sense to him at the moment and he was flat out confused. A rumbling noise then broke his concentration. He aimed his gaze in the distance and saw flash.

Then a blue light clouded his vision, and then threw him back several feet with an ear piercing shockwave. He managed to stand up and grunted in pain. The temperature was now at very cold low, freezing most of the area it had emerged from. As his vision started to clear, he noticed a blue beast like creature. It had emerged from the crystal that had caused the icy explosion it had made in the first place. This one was different however, it had wings made from black crystal, had six legs, spikes that sported bright blue, and a beefed-up  
body that was colored in a dark blue color. The creature then lunged at Shadow, slamming him against the ground. The ebony hedgehog screamed as his eyes glowed red with rage.

"The worst mistake you've ever made!" He growled.

A shot of adrenaline made his heart pulse at breakneck speed...

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**A/N:** Yes... MOAR CLIFFHANGERZ (Spelling error ftw). Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as much as I did when writing it. HOPEFULLY the next chapter will be up within the week. Then we'll be halfway with Act One! Woo Hoo! What will happen to Shadow? What has become of Rouge and Omega? Do more Chaos Emeralds exist? Why am I asking _you_ all of these questions?- (Spongebob Reference) Find out in Part Eight!  
Reviews and CONSTRUCTIVE Criticism is very appreciated. Thanks!

**P.P.S. If you have any questions regarding the story (That don't spoil anything) I'll be glad to answer through PM's/Notes.**


	8. XX

**Shadow: Dark Horizon**

**Part Eight: XX**

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**A/N:** So... This one came out earlier than Part 7 but that ain't saying much _. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this next chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it (My favorite so far!) It has a lot of action, information, surprises, and DEFINITELY a game changer plot-wise. If I were you, I'd look at the chapter title. It might give you a few hints! ;)

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**Sunlight City - Ocean Spine Parkway**

Shadow stared at his opponent's eyes that seemed to be stabbing Shadow as they gazed upon him. Before the monster could strike with its' maw, Shadow quickly squeezed his way out from under the monster's bulky hands. The monster's mouth then collided with the asphalt below it, causing a few teeth to crack and crumble. Shadow then relocated to the right side of the creature and attacked.

"Chaos Blast!" He roared as he fired a crimson colored laser.

The laser just simply grazed the creature, barely causing a scratch. The creature then lunged at him with its razor sharp appendages, although the ultimate-life-form was a bit too swift and avoided them. Shadow then pressed his palms together. His hands started to glow with blue energy and tremble with power. The ebony hedgehog then sprinted forward a few meters and then clapped his hands together. A blue wave –like energy pulse rushed forward into the creature. When the beam made contact with the monster, it caused its exoskeleton to start steaming and then cause small explosions on the outside.

The creature quickly retaliated and shot a dark blue beam surrounded by black lightning. Shadow charged his attack again and then fired. His ice wave collided with the energy beam and fought each other. The two beams struggled against each other before the energy beam overcame the ice wave, running right into Shadow and jamming him into the ground. The hedgehog's skin stung and burned from the cuts he received but he shook it off. He was better than that.

Shadow quickly formulated his next plan of action. He backed up a few meters and then planted his feet in the ground. He then started to glow and green energy coursed throughout his body. The monster gazed over at him and tilted its head in confusion. The ebony hedgehog then launched himself towards the menacing foe. As he quickly approached, the creature simply just stood still in its place, somewhat amused by the hedgehog's efforts. Before the ultimate life-form had a chance to attack, he was clubbed with the monstrosity's burly tail. The impact sent the hedgehog back a few meters right into a halfway collapsed street light.

"Agh… why is it that I always underestimate these things!" The hedgehog growled as he regained his stamina.

He looked around at his surroundings trying to find something he could use to damage the creature. As his eyes searched, he noticed that the sun had finally started to peek through the charcoal colored smoke that covered the crippled metropolis. Shadow eyes desperately searched for something to use to his advantage. Then, something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye.

_That semi-truck, of course!_ His thoughts raced.

He then redirected his attention back to the creature, who started to charge towards his position.

_Time to move… _Shadow thought as he hoisted himself upwards over the creature as soon as it arrived.

While in mid-air, he struck the creature behind the head, cracking the shell covering it's neck in the process. The creature roared in pain, and before Shadow could land, he was bashed by the creature's forearm. When shadow finally hit the asphalt of the road, the creature's blue colored markings began to light up. Shadow's eyes widened and he quickly got up and ran toward the huge truck. Right before Shadow was within arm's reach, he was picked off on his left side by the dark energy beam. The force of impact made him do a wicked spin and land flat on his face.

An exhausted Shadow then opened his eyes to see the beastly creature coming toward him, yet again. He tried with all of his energy to get himself off of the ground, but he found no strength within him. When the creature arrived, it grabbed Shadow by the leg and held him up to its' face.

"Ha! This is what the commander was so concerned about?" The creature questioned with a dark voice. "A puny rodent dubbed 'The Ultimate Life-form?' Pathetic…"

"Please, I have more power than you and the others will ever _dream_ to have!" Shadow snarled as he tried to shake himself out of the creature's grasp. _No good… too… strong…_ Shadow thought as he struggled.

"If you're as powerful as you claim to be, then I'm sure you can handle _this_!" The creature roared maniacally as it threw Shadow toward the semi-truck's fuel tank.

Before shadow collided with the tank, the creature unleashed a beam from its' naval, making it explode as soon as shadow was near it. Shadow saw flames from both sides and just closed his eyes. Black smoke and debris filled the area as the flames seemingly consumed him. The creature simply stood there and laughed at Shadow's apparent demise. The creature started to walk away when it heard a scraping sound. It stopped in its tracks, but then ignored it. A piercing scraping noise began to fill the area and the creature started to wince from the intense sound waves.

Shadow's body trembled inside the flames and began to glow red. The creature's crystal body parts then started to light up. "What is this? My power… it's fading..! How? He can't! Impossible!" The creature shrieked as it started to stumble. Shadow opened his eyes, revealing they had turned blank white. His body blacked itself out, and a blackish-red aura surrounding his body surged throughout the area. Shadow had absorbed the negative energy that was present in the creature's body. Dark Shadow had emerged.

Shadow slowly rose up from the blaze and eyed his diminishing opponent. He smirked with an evil grin that soon turned to a frown.

"I will…" He breathed in, "Show you_ true_ power!" The darkness within him bellowed.

Before the creature's eye's could blink, Dark Shadow sped through his body, striking him while passing through. The creature started to scream a blood curdling scream, a scream that seemed to last forever. Shadow teleported back in front of the monstrosity. Shadow gave the creature a deathly stare and the creature winced from his previous wound.

"He was … right…" The creature admitted as Shadow quickly sped around to the back of the creature.

"Yet you wouldn't listen…" Dark Shadow replied coldly. Before Dark Shadow struck with a killing blow, he halted. He then smiled a dark smile.

"I'd rather kill my enemy while I look them in the eye…" The Dark filled hedgehog uttered in a dark tone.

Shadow grabbed the creature by the head and quickly twisted the creature's head around. The creature screamed and shadow twisted it until the head was facing his face.

"_There_ we go…" The negative hedgehog whispered amidst the screams.

The hedgehog then let go of the head. Before the creature had time to react, Dark Shadow re-grabbed the head and thrust it sideways, tearing it off entirely. He then took the head and smashed it to the ground, causing it to shatter into millions of pieces. He then charged his entire body and his body started to flash red. His body shook with power before he bellowed

"Chaos… Burst!" A Black beam surrounded by spiraling red lightning was shot at the corpse.

The dark beam completely disintegrated the body. Shadow then lifted all loose object nearby in midair and made them hover. With the movement of his fists, he caused them to explode, wreaking havoc through the area of the city. His eyes now flashed red and he started to emit a continuous shockwave that started to decimate everything in the area.

"The power's too _MUCH_!" He screamed in agony as buildings, roads, vehicles, _everything_ around him was completely annihilated…

**Razor Plateau - City Outskirts **

The wind blew through the air at a steady rate, enough to calm one's nerves. Gazing upon the city beyond it however, was a different story. Through the short grass and sandy plateau climate, Sonic the hedgehog and his friends, who were trailing behind, closed in near the entrance to the devastated city. Before he knew it, the cobalt hedgehog was already near the cliff of the giant plateau around the city.

"Ah! This is way too high!" Sonic exclaimed as he stared down the cliff's edge.

"Well maybe you'd find an easier way to get down by just using the road…" An annoyed Knuckles called out as Tails and Amy followed behind him, taking the path of the dwindled road.

Sonic quickly ran over to the group and cut in front of Knuckles, taking the lead. He looked behind him to see Knuckles starting to growl and Tails shaking his head. Sonic just shrugged and stayed in place. After a few more minutes of traveling, the two tailed fox rested his bag on the ground and sat on a nearby rock.

"Phew, I'm beat!" He exclaimed as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. Knuckles and Amy then also proceeded to find a place to sit and rest.

"Well, we're almost there." Sonic said as he motioned tails to pass him a water bottle.

"Yep, only a few more miles and we'll be dead center in the middle of the city!" Tails happily replied as he tossed Sonic the water.

Amy wasn't so excited though. In fact, she was heartbroken from the image she saw in the distance. Sonic noticed this and quickly walked over to her location.

"Amy, is something wrong? You look sad." Sonic asked concerned.

"The city it's… it's worse up close than on T.V." The rose colored hedgehog quietly replied.

"I know. I'm not happy about it either Amy. That's the reason why we're here though. To find out what did this." He spoke, trying to confort her.

"I know, but it's still sad. Do you think anyone made it?" She asked with a small sign of hope.

"I… I don't know, but we'll find out when we arrive, that's for sure." The azure hedgehog assured her.

Amy turned towards Sonic and smiled a soft smile. Sonic smiled back too and put his hand on her shoulder. Their moment was interrupted however, when all of a sudden the ground began to shake violently.

"Whoa! What the heck?" Sonic yelled as he grabbed Amy and helped keep her balance.

Tails and Knuckles behind them both stood firmly, keeping their posture. The metallic object off in the distance lit up and let loose a multi-colored shockwave off in the distance, destroying other buildings surrounding it. The shaking then came to an abrupt halt, making all four Mobians fall to their looked off into the distance at the object, puzzled.

_That's a lot of power. TOO much power…_ His mind operated.

After Amy was helped back up by Sonic, Knuckles was the first to break the silence.

"Looks like we've got quite a big problem on our hands." The crimson echidna told his allies.

"Yeah, that was some shockwave! It absolutely destroyed those buildings!" Sonic exclaimed as he looked at the horrifying image before him. Amy just looked away from the image and buried her face in her hands.

"It's terrible… people don't deserve that, no matter how bad they may be!" Amy exclaimed while holding back tears.

"Well we have come this far, so it wouldn't make sense to leave now. I say we go forward." Tails suggested as he got up and put on his supply pack.

"Agreed." Knuckles briefly said as he too stood up.

"Yeah, I'm ready. Come on Amy." Sonic said as he pulled her up from the ground.

"Ok…" She said as she sniffed.

**Sunlight City – Seahorse Villa**

All four of them followed the dirt road down a narrow pathway that hugged the edge of the plateau, carefully keeping their balance so they wouldn't tumble down it. After clearing the steep pathway, they finally came to a sign.

It read: _Welcome to Sunlight City! The sunny Vacation and Business capital of the world!_

"Not a vacation spot anymore…" Knuckles commented.

Amy gave knuckles an annoyed look but he ignored it. The outside of the city was still intact, and barely any damage was done to the area. The outside of the metropolis consisted of town homes and apartment complexes and the particular area they were in right now was called Seahorse Villa, a town home village. The crippled City seemed to loom over the unscathed homes, intimidating it in a way. As the heroes walked down the road, Sonic was reminded of something he had seen earlier.

"Hey Tails, have you seen any humans since you arrived at Leatherback Bay?" The cobalt hedgehog asked his best friend.

"No I haven't… kind of weird isn't it?" He responded.

"Very. It's not normal at all. They're usually walking the streets or driving cars most of the time, and I haven't seen one person." The hedgehog stated as he and the other three Mobians kept a steady jog down the street.

"I also noticed that I haven't seen any armed forces in the area. It's very odd for that to occur, especially when a city like this is put on its' knees." Knuckles intervened, also informing them of his suspicions.

"Yeah, definitely." Sonic and Tails both agreed.

As Sonic led the group, he noticed a strange glare in the sky.

_What is that?_ He thought to himself.

Soon, he was seeing multiple glares in a particular area of the sky.

"Tails, what is that?" The blue hedgehog questioned as he frantically pointed his finger toward the flashes.

"I have no clue Sonic…" The fox answered paused and then noticed that the flashes were getting closer, putting him on alert."But whatever it is… it's heading toward this way!" The now alarmed fox said as he started to scurry for cover.

"Amy, Knuckles, find some cover! Something's coming our way!" The hedgehog sounded to his allies as he himself dove for cover underneath a garage with an overhead roof.

Tails ran and sticks to a brick wall facing the opposite direction of the oncoming force while Knuckles and Amy hide behind a cargo truck. Tails quickly reaches into his supply pack and pulls out a pair of high tech goggles.

_Alright… let's see what you are…_The fox thought as he looked into the goggles.

As he scoped in closer, his jaw dropped. "Guys, we have hostile crystals on the way! Prepare yourself and Take them out quickly if you can. They're a force to be reckoned with!" He screamed to his allies.

Sonic looked over at Knuckles' and mouthed the words 'wait until they go by' to him. Knuckles nodded and readied himself for the imminent battle. The swarm of blood red crystals rushed by at a speed that would make Sonic jealous.

_Ah. They're the same type of thing that took out the news crew!_ Knuckles thought as he steamed with anger.

Knuckles and Sonic changed directions and Amy switched her cover over to Sonic's area.

"Amy. Why are you here? Take cover somewhere else! You're not safe here!" Sonic whispered annoyed.

Amy responded "I'm just here to he-"

"You're not helping Amy! Go find cover!" Sonic cut her off harshly.

"But…" Amy now said with a quivering lip. "

Go!" Sonic said as he stammered.

With her head hung low, she quickly made her way to a safer area.

_See? Just a speed bump. Nothing more._ His thoughts persisted to say. _What are you doing Sonic? She has potential to fight and you know that yourself from past experience. Remember the Metarex? That's proof enough._ His thoughts clashed.

At that moment, Sonic had spaced out and wasn't paying attention to his surroundings.

"Sonic! What are you doing? Attack! Attack! They're here!" Knuckles cried out as he jabbed an oncoming crystal with his fist.

"Whoah!" Sonic took notice and shook his head.

The crystals came blazing by once again, slashing through cars and some houses, shredding anything that made contact with them. Sonic took the time to charge his spin dash move. As he saw three crystals come around the corner, he let loose and sliced through them with his speed. Tails flew out from under his cover and took pursuit to two other crystals heading toward Knuckles. Before they collided with the echidna, Tails bashed them to the ground with his two tails while Knuckles finished them off with a double-jab punch. More crystals came rushing out of the sky and made Knuckles its' target once again. What the echidna didn't know was that another group was headed his way ready to flank him.

When the first group arrived, Sonic used his Homing attack on five of them while knuckles did a side kick on another.

"Knuckles, look out!" Tails cried as he pointed to the right of the echidna.

"Right!" Knuckles called.

"Got it!" Sonic responded back as he jumped at Knuckles who proceeded to throw him at the flanking crystals.

While airborne from the throw, Sonic curled up into a ball and shredded through the pack of crystals. After Sonic was apart from Knuckles, Amy peeked her head out from cover to see what was going on. The next thing she saw horrified her.

"Sonic, behind you!" She cried out to the blue hero.

"Ah!" Sonic cried out surprised as he fled from the oncoming crystals.

As he sped through the villa, he looked over his shoulder to find out that the crystals were gaining ground on him.

"No, I'm the fastest thing alive! This shouldn't be!" He cried out in shock as he tried to maneuver through tight spaces and narrow pathways.

_Man, I can't shake 'em off. I'm toast! _Sonic thought as he kept running.

Before the crystals could reach the hedgehog, Knuckles cut off the oncoming onslaught by Throwing his fist in the way of the aligned crystals. He punched them one by one until they were shattered. Sonic noticed this and aimed his gaze back toward the sky. The large swarm of crystals that had hung out there had reset its' course back to the metallic object. He ran back over to where Knuckles was standing and once again looked at the retreating crystals.

"I've gotta say Knux, you saved my hide back there." Sonic admitted as he offered a hand shake.

"Hey, it's no problem. It just feels good to be back in action again hehe!" Knuckles chuckled as he accepted Sonic's hand shake, causing them to both chuckle.

"At least we act good as team. That's something we've always had." Tails intervened and pounded Sonic and Knuckles' fist.

"Is everyone alright?" The cobalt hedgehog asked his allies.

"I'm good.' Knuckles answered while Tails nodded. Then, it hit sonic like a brick wall.

_Amy_ Sonic thought. "Hey Amy, it's ok to come ou-"

"_SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!_" An overpowering sound wave attacked the group's ears.

"AHH!" Knuckles screamed as he pressed his hands against his hurting ears.

"My brain… feels like it's melting!" The two tailed fox screamed as he fell to the ground.

"That _noise_… too much_ NOISE_!" The cobalt hedgehog bellowed as he instantly dropped to his knees. "Amy!" He screamed amidst his own agony.

He started crawling over to where she had taken cover. About a meter from her location, he ran out of strength. The noise was just too much for him and his vision started to blur. He rolled on his back and looked up only to see a heavily armed helicopter landing in the area. Several armed mean with tactical gear came storming out of the vehicle. Two men started heading towards his way. _  
_

_They're here for me…_ Sonic thought.

He was proven wrong however. The two men blew right passed him and picked up a partially subdued hedgehog behind a barricade.

"AMY!" Sonic called as he extended his arm out for her.

"_SONIC_!" She cried out with tears running down her face with her arm extended also.

Sonic tried with all of his strength to get up, but he failed. A man with a black mask and an Automatic rifle walked up to the weeping hedgehog.

"_NO_! _AMY_!" The hedgehog screamed until his voice became hoarse.

The man standing over him eyed Sonic suspiciously and then signaled the other men who were over Knuckles' and Tails' bodies. They gave them both a hit to the hit with the butt of their rifle, and Sonic was next. Although the man was wearing a mask, he could've sworn he saw an evil smile on his face. The man bashed sonic on the forehead with the rifle, surely knocking him out. They loaded the struggling Amy Rose into the intimidating gunship. Soon after, the helicopter's men re-boarded the gunship and it took off. Sonic's vision was going dark, but there was one thing, _one _thing that he saw, that scared him.

Amy Rose was captured.

She was captured by armed men.

"G-GU-" Sonic managed mouth before he passed out from the blow and the terrible squealing.

She was captured… by _**G.U.N**_**. **

**_"What Has Helped You Countless Times... Is Now Against You."_**

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**A/N:** O HO HO HO HO! -How'd you like my eggman laugh? _TWIST_ G.U.N. has turned against Sonic and co. But why? WHY SO MANY QUESTIONS? Well, they will be answered (hopefully soon) since I will try and crank out a lot of chapter throughout the rest of the summer. Dark Shadow was awesome to write for since he is such a BA and has a whole bank of nasty moves so I thought it was cool. Kind of weird for him to go Dark without Chaos emeralds isn't it? Hmmmmm... :D. Having G.U.N. as an enemy just seemed like a really good idea to me, plus the fact that I can do so much with it and it really gives a good aspect of how Sonic and friends can go against the world sometimes. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chappie! What will Happen to Amy? What are the motives behind G.U.N. truning against Sonic and Co.? Will Sonic, Tails, and Knux be able to save Amy? Find out in Part Nine!


	9. Breaking Point

_**Shadow: Dark Horizon**_

_**Part Nine: Breaking Point**_

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**A/N: **Hey everyone! Sorry for this being a bit late even though I said that it would be released soon. I'll admit though, this part is a MONSTER of a part. Definitely the longest part so far! Heck, I could've been lazy and split it into two parts, but I'm not like that. This chapter is different from all of my other chapters. It's not action packed, but it's pretty dark, informative, and thrilling. I hope all of you enjoy!

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**Sunlight City - Centurion Tower**

A snow white bat flew through the air. A few tears stained her face, drying as they met the oncoming wind. It had been almost an hour since Shadow had continued onward without them, and Rouge couldn't help but worry about the hedgehog.

_It's way too dangerous out there… even for him… just too much… _The thief thought as she glided through the air.

She looked underneath her to see Omega scouting out the upcoming areas they approached.

"Scanning for hostiles…" The robot informed her as he went out ahead. "Area clear. Moving forward." He responded as he pressed on.

Rouge decided to save her energy and switched back to walking on solid ground. She landed on the ground with a 'thud' and stood up. She ran her fingers through her hair and yawned.

"I should've known he'd have run off like that. I should've just brought him with us anyway." Rouge quietly talked to herself. "Stupid, stupid, _stupid_! She growled as she hit herself on the head.

"I know it's hard, but thinking about the past won't change anything." The robot commented.

"Yeah, try telling that to _Shadow_. I'm sure it'd work well!" The jewel-thief retorted with an attitude.

The robot stood silent and just ignored the furious bat. The area surrounding them wasn't as damaged as most of the buildings they had seen before. In fact, it was in pretty good shape. Before them was a huge foundation, almost like a memorial with all sorts of statues and plaques. In the middle of the foundation stood a midsized tower that seemed to loom over everything else. It sported chrome and charcoal based colors, giving it a stealth-like appearance. Something clicked in Rouge's mind. Her eyes started to look around frantically before coming across a large slab of concrete that stood taller than the others. Words were engraved in it that read: "_Welcome to Centurion Tower, the first tower to ever be constructed in Sunlight City! This giant stands over one-hundred meters tall and is a treasured monument to the entire city. Enjoy your tour as you gaze upon the history inside!" _

"Aha!" Rouge jumped as a light bulb turned on in her head. "Omega, didn't Shadow receive information earlier about a camp being set up at Centurion Tower? A G.U.N. camp if I recall correctly?" She asked as she caught up with the ongoing robot.

"Yes, for that is what the soldier he made contact with told him." Omega responded as he and Rouge stopped in their tracks.

"Well, why don't we just stay here until then. Maybe we could go out with a squad of soldiers and find Shadow. Food and water doesn't sound too bad either." She said as she licked her dry lips at the thought of being hydrated.

"Fine. I will take point while entering the facility, just in case there are enemies present in the area." The bulky robot said as the covering over his shoulders opened to reveal four missiles loaded in each. "Stay behind me." The metalized being spoke.

Omega quietly moved up the steps to the front entrance of the gloriously decorated building. His eyes zoomed in on the inside of the building and scanned it, making sure it was safe for them to enter.

"The area is clear, proceed with caution. I'll watch your back." The robot spoke as he signaled Rouge to enter the building.

She walked up and grabbed the handle of the see-through door and quietly opened it, creating a 'creaking' sound in the process. She slowly entered the untouched building, her eyes searching within it in the process. The lobby contained a huge an animated metal statue in the middle that showed a large star with many others orbiting it. Surrounding the statue was other cosmologic objects like asteroids and stardust. In fact, the whole lobby took up more than half of the building, reaching as high as the tip of the skyscraper itself. The inside color was a light gray that made it contrast with the outside gloominess. She looked around at her surroundings and came to realize that the lobby itself was humongous.

_Quite a building… _She thought. The more she observed the area however, the more puzzled she became. _Where's G.U.N.? They should be here! _She thought as she scratched her head. "Omega." Rouge called out to the guarding robot. "No one is here. No one at all!" She now shouted with annoyance.

Omega proceeded to look around himself and scanned the oversized lobby himself. Not a thing at all.

"No active life forms are present in the area." The robot concluded.

"Huhhh… You've gotta be kidding me…" Rouge breathed out as she rubbed her eyes with her hands. She looked behind her and found a seat. _Why not? _She thought with ease. What could a little rest do? The crimson and slate robot approached her and stood next to her.

"It is imperative that you rest. I'll stand guard and watch for hostiles." The robotic titan informed her.

"Thanks Omega…" The albino bat yawned as she stretched and sat down in the cushioned chair.

She closed her eyes until she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. _Was that a water fountain?_ She thought to herself as she remembered how thirsty she was. She hadn't had a drink since the whole medical incident with her legs.

She hoisted herself from the chair and quickly made way to the drinking station, her lips longing for the quench of H2O. As she pressed the button for the fountain to shoot out, she gulped all the water she could. She wiped her hand with her forearm and turned around with her eyes closed. As soon as her eyes shot back open, she was trucked by two men in tactical armor.

"Ah!" She screamed as she hit the floor, getting the wind knocked out of her.

"Hold her down, hold her down!" One of the men barked as he and another armed man pushed her arms to the ground.

"Wha… you creeps get off of me! Who the heck are you? OMEGA!" A furious Rouge screamed as she struggled against them as they held Rouge to the ground.

The men then proceeded to violently flip her over face-down on the ground. As she was being forced to the ground, out of the corner of her eye she saw Omega.

"Omega! _Help me_!" She begged.

Something was wrong, terribly wrong. He was sitting there all slumped and not doing a thing! Why?

"Alright, now inject her with the sedative. That should put her out long enough…" The man to her right commanded.

"No! What do you think _I am_, some kind of wild animal?" Rouge frantically struggled as she gazed at the man's covered face.

The black mask covering it merely turned.

"Exactly…" He said with a frightening tone.

Before she knew it, Rouge felt a cold rush of pain flooding through her veins around her neck.

"You guys… l-let me go… _now_…" Her voice became increasingly weak until fading into nothingness.

"Cloaking: off" a voice commanded.

Out of nowhere, a large squad of armored soldiers emerged from the shadows. One became visible behind Omega, holding a strange device that had multicolored lights and a hooked head. He simply tossed upwards and caught it, showing satisfaction with the unknown tool.

"Squad, group together the two prisoners and put them somewhere they can't escape when they reawaken." The squad leader informed his men.

"Aye, sir." Four of the men responded as they picked up the dead-weighted body of Rouge.

"Where shall we place her sir?" One of them questioned, emotions hidden underneath the dusk black mask that hid his face.

The squad leader pulled out a blue touchpad from one of his pouches.

"Alright, so that's three out of seven…" He mumbled to himself as he made a few finger motions before bringing up a map. "The Commander requested the least accessible level, so Room 16-C. Same with Omega, but make sure you put some sort of barrier around him, otherwise it'll be too easy for him to escape." He commanded as he swiftly put away his touchpad in a quick fashion.

"Yessir." Another man responded as they dragged Rouge's body to the nearest stairwell since the elevators were taken out.

They dragged her effortlessly up the stairs as they made their way to the very top of the building, the 16th floor. When they arrived at the door of the huge room, they simply opened the door and hurled her into it.

"Now it's Omega's turn…" Another man commented as he and the other three soldiers made their way back downstairs. After struggling to carry the burly body of Omega, they carried him over to the center of the room and tossed his body underneath a huge stone statue of a crescent.

"You have that tool?" One man questioned.

"What do you think? Of course I have it!" The questioned soldier barked back as he activated the tool.

Blue lights and a small electrical field surrounded the instrument. After pressing a few buttons, the soldier pointed it to Omega's area and cast the energy wave. It surrounded Omega and a blue colored dome surrounded itself around him.

"That should keep this thing held tight…" The soldier commented as he exited the room.

When all of the men were clear of the room, another soldier came up to the door and slammed it shut.

"Seal the door." A soldier commanded as he and the others took their business back downstairs with the squad leader.

The soldier pulled out an edgy looking tool that started to shoot out liquid metal. He aimed the oozing metal at the creases, completely isolating the room from everything else. After the liquid metal hardened, the soldier followed his comrades and made his way down to the main lobby. Although it was about 9:00 A.M., light couldn't find its way into the sealed room. The body and machine laid there lifeless as the dark of the room consumed their blank minds…

Sunlight City - Ocean Spine Parkway

Shadow the Hedgehog slowly opened his eyes, welcoming the flickering light the sky gave off. With eyes wide open, he stared at the sky for what seemed to be an hour, but in reality only lasted a minute. The second Shadow tried to move his body, pain halted his actions.

_It consumed me again… _Shadow thought as he breathed out.

His hatred, afflictions, grudges, _everything, _was set free by the dark energy that possessed him. But wait a minute, how could that of happened without a Chaos Emerald? The powerless hedgehog simply shook his head and attempted to stand up. The pain was sharp, but he took it. He needed to set himself back on course with the metallic object, or else he would be far too late. As he slowly regained some of his stamina, his surroundings made his eyes go wide.

_I… did this?_ He thought to himself.

The area of the city surrounding him was completely decimated, nothing more but piles of smoldering rubble to mark its demise. The destruction he caused was far worse than he thought. His only intention was to kill his enemy, not level an entire area! His environment wasn't the only center of attention for the ultimate life-form. He felt week, absolutely week. His body ached and he could barely stand it. Shadow held his head low and shook it.

_Sacrifices have to be made unfortunately… _He thought as he started to limp towards his intended destination.

The object was starting to become a lot closer now. All he had to do now was take Streamline Highway for about six miles and he would be there. However, with the condition his body was in, he wasn't going to cover that ground any time soon. After about five steps, a bright flashing light started to make its presence known in the sky.

_That's odd… _the ebony hedgehog thought. Out of the light emerged a silver aircraft with a jagged body and heavily armed with missiles and other weaponry.

_Did that aircraft just exit a warp? _The shocked hedgehog questioned as he scratched his ears.

The closer the aircraft came, the more details that showed up.

_That's no ordinary gunship… _The ebony hedgehog thought with suspicion,_ and it certainly looks familiar… _The hedgehog pondered as he stood still.

His eyes opened widely as he then identified the chopper.

_So that's why it looks familiar! _Shadow thought as he realized what it really was. It was a G.U.N. aircraft!

_Signaling the chopper wouldn't be a bad idea. They could probably give me a lift…_ He concluded as he started to signal the intimidating vehicle.

He summoned a bright red ball of energy in his hand and started to point it in the air, trying to get the gunship's attention. They'd notice him, right?

The aircraft simply soared over his position and avoided him entirely, making a deep humming noise as it went by. It had completely ignored him! Shadow's jaw dropped and he started to curse in his head. Didn't they see him? He was right out in the open and they acted like he was just another piece of debris on the ground!

_Why did I sign up for G.U.N. again?_He thought angrily as he continued walking toward the object.

Now, six miles were all that stood in his way…

**City Skyline – G.U.N. Gunship #659**

A pink hedgehog awakened from her drowsy state. She felt light headed and could barely open her eyes. She was _dead _tired, but why? She groaned and rotated her head to look around. Where was she? Then she remembered. She had been captured, sedated against her will. She breathed out and shook her head.

_How could this have happened again? _She wondered as she looked around the tiny room. Heh, it wasn't even a room, just a tiny space in who knows where.

_What do those men want with me? They just came out of nowhere…_ She asked in her head as if someone would answer.

A few voices startled her, making her jump a little bit. Before she knew it, she felt pressure welling up in her ears.

_Almost like…_ Amy paused. _Oh… now I remember… _She said as she realized where she had been taken.

She was loaded onto some aircraft taking her _somewhere_… but where _exactly_? The question made her shiver.

_What will they do to me?_ She thought in fear.

She shook her wrists and her ankles, trying to break free from the forged metal rings that confined her to the wall.

_Shoot! No good!_ She thought as she stopped struggling. Once again, some voice sounded its way through the door. Just who were these people?

Beyond the steel door that captivated Amy was a medium sized control room. About ten heavily armed men occupied the area and worked controls for the aircraft they controlled. The sides of the area were mounted turrets that were attached to the doors. In the front sat one soldier who piloted the vehicle. Behind that was another soldier sturdy armor, signifying that he was the leader of the entire squad on board. One of the soldiers walked up to him and saluted.

"At ease soldier." The squad leader replied as he motioned his hand.

The soldier rested his arm and started to question him. "Sir, you do realize that we just passed Shadow the Hedgehog, right? We could've captured him and-"

"Silence! I am aware we did that, yes. However, we are waiting for the right moment to strike. It just takes patience, which apparently you don't have…" The squad leader replied coldly as he eyed the soldier behind his black mask.

"Fine, whatever you say…" The soldier replied sarcastically.

The squad leader just snickered and returned his attention to the holographic screen in front of him. He was receiving an incoming call from a higher officer.

"This is Gunship #659, you wanted something, sir?" The squad leader asked his commanding officer when he answered it.

"Yes we did" A deep voice sounded. "Did you successfully collect 'the package'?"

The squad leader put his hands together and cracked them. "Yes, sir we did, and it was a cinch."

"Good, good. What about the _others_?" The commanding officer asked.

"They were left behind since _Amy Rose_ was issued as a high-priority target by the Commander." The squad leader answered. "However, the commander said that he had something _special_ in mind for the rest of them."

"I got the same response…" The commanding officer replied. "Just so you know also, our little 'camp' ambush at Centurion Tower worked. We have successfully captured Rouge the Bat and E-123 Omega. We are now waiting for a chopper to pick us up."

The squad leader clapped once and rubbed his hands together, "Excellent… the Commander will be pleased…" He hissed.

"Indeed he will. What is your current ETA?" The commanding officer questioned.

"Should be about ten minutes at least…" The squad leader answered.

"Good. I will see you at the loading dock then." The commanding officer concluded as he ended the call. As the call ended, the squad leader summoned one of his men.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" The soldier replied with a salute.

"Yes, check on _Ms._ Rose to see how she is doing." The squad leader commanded. "Oh, and If you need to restrain her further, you have my clearance to do so."

"Yessir!" The soldier replied as he headed toward the door that contained her…

Those voices… they just kept getting closer! Amy Rose practically jumped out of her skin as they kept getting louder… and louder… and louder! Amy felt weak, like she couldn't do a thing.

_Just wait until Sonic gets here. _Her thoughts seemingly reassured her. _Sonic… _The name reminded Amy of Sonic's last words to her before she was abducted.

"You're _not_ helping Amy!" The words just lingered on in her end. She sighed. When was she going to finally let herself get rid of this fantasy that she had about her and Sonic? It'd never _ever _come true, no matter how hard she tried. Tears started to well up in her eyes. Ohhh why did he do this to her?

_Just give him time, he'll come through eventually... _Her thoughts halted. _Amy, just stop waiting for him. It's his loss. You know that you'll find someone better than him! _

"_**Not**_ true!" Amy screamed to herself. She halted her screams when she heard the door start to creak.

_Oh no…_ She thought. _They're coming for me! _

She tried her best to free herself, arms and legs pushing against the rings that held her by her wrists and ankles. Too late. The door opened and Amy directed her gaze away from the man. As the door opened, the soldier walked in and then closed it. She could see the masked man from the corner of her eye.

"What do you want from me?" She angrily spat at the soldier. The fluid landed on the soldier's mask and he calmly wiped it off. Suddenly, he walked towards her real fast.

"Talking that way will get you nowhere while you're with us!" The soldier yelled at her as he pointed his finger in her face. Amy quickly bit his finger and he yelped. He quickly retaliated and slapped her across the face with the back of his hand. Amy's cheeks burned and more tears started to well up.

"Keep it up and there'll be more where that came from!" He barked at her.

"Pfft! You'll be sorry when Sonic shows up!" She retorted. _If he shows up…_ she thought.

"The rodent? Ha! Before he even gets the slightest idea of where you're at, we'll have already eliminated him _and _his friends!" He shouted back at her.

Oh no he did not.

"You'll _regret_ it…" Amy hissed through gritted teeth.

"No, I assure you, _we won't_." he replied with a dark tone.

"Who is _we _ anyway? Who the heck are all of you in the first place? What do you want with me?" Amy bellowed as she further struggled to get off the wall.

"You don't know who we are? Look!" He laughed as he pointed toward a skull logo printed on his armor.

"G…U…" The last letter stopped Amy. Her eyes widened and she looked at the covered face of the soldier.

"G.U.N?" She yelled as she tried her best break her way off the wall. She felt the ring around her left wrist start to crack.

"Yes, we are G.U.N., new and improved!" He informed her. "And to answer your other question… it'll come in time." He grinned an evil grin.

Those four words made Amy shiver.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She inquired.

"You'll see…" He said as he started to laugh. That was it. Amy had been through enough.

"No… you're going to tell me _right now_!" She yelled as the ring around her left wrist became even more loose.

"Or what?" The soldier questioned as he laughed even more. Amy paused and looked at him.

"Or _else_…" She hissed.

The ring around her left wrist finally gave way and became free.

"Amy, restrain yourself or I will!" The man barked as he approached her position.

"Never! Not for what you said!" She screeched as she summoned her Piko Piko hammer.

She bashed the other rings that confined her and made a mad dash towards the soldier. The soldier went to open the door but was way too slow. Amy swung her hammer and hit him with incredible force.

"Aggh!" He yelled in pain as he was sent spiraling toward the wall next to the door.

The force was so great that he was sent crashing through the door. Amy looked through the hole and saw the squad leader pointing directly at her.

"Restrain her! Restrain her!" He barked.

Several men started to approach Amy's position and she had to think fast.

_Now what?_ She thought as her mind searched for .

The men came closer and she realized that she just had to fight her way out. The men pulled out their assault rifles.

"Amy, if you continue your aggression, we will be forced to fire, Got it?" The squad leader informed her as he aimed at her with the rifle.

"Never!" She yelled back as she charged the group of men. The man in front was bashed by her hammer but the others started to fire. Amy covered her face and felt puncturing pain. She looked down to see three needles stuck in her arm. Her body began to grow numb and tears leaked from her eyes.

"Good work men. Next time, make sure you _seal _the rings to the wall!" The squad leader commanded as his men scrambled to pick up the body of Amy Rose. Tears started to uncontrollably come out of her eyes now. She shook her head lightly.

"Why would any of you do this?" She barely said. "Why…?" She mouthed before her vision faded to black…

**Sunlight City - Seahorse Villa**

The village stood still with no activity. Air went in, air went out. Sonic's eyes slowly opened and his face was against the road.

"G.U.N." He breathed as he tried to move.

His body felt like it had been sapped of all its energy and moving seemed to be a chore. He looked over to his left to find Tails laying in the grass in front of a house while Knuckles was just starting to get up to his right.

"Knux!" Sonic called out as he noticed his friend's movement.

"Sonic, are you okay? Where's Amy?" He asked as he rushed over to the downed hedgehog and grabbed his hand.

"I'll admit, I'm not." He answered as he was pulled to his feet. "Amy was kidnapped!"

"Kidnapped? What would _anyone_ want with Amy?" He yelled in disbelief as he flailed his arms in the air.

"I have no idea Knux. I'll fill in the details later, but first I'm gonna check on Tails." He informed him.

Knuckles nodded and focused his attention elsewhere as Sonic slowly jogged over to Tails' position. Man, he couldn't even run at full speed! Sonic put his hand on Tails' shoulder and shook him lightly.

The golden fox's eyes slowly started open. "Ugh…S-Sonic?" he whispered. "What… happened? Where's Amy?" He started to get up and Sonic grabbed his hand.

"Amy's been… kidnapped…" Sonic quietly informed the fox.

"What? Why? Who would do that to _her_… besides Eggman?" The golden fox breathed in astonishment.

"I'll tell both you and Knuckles in a minute." He calmly said as he pulled his little pro to his feet.

"I feel so… weak." Tails told the azure hedgehog. "I know little buddy. I can't even run that fast right now. Maybe our strength will come back in time?" He guessed as he scratched his head.

He looked over at Knuckles who was staring at the metallic object and motioned him. The echidna nodded and walked over to his position.

"So Sonic, did you see who those people were? I caught a quick glimpse before I passed out but I couldn't recognize much of the image." He informed his friend.

"I did, but first, Tails did you see anything?" Sonic asked his little brother. The fox shook his head.

"I wish I had, but sadly no. That high pitched squeal had me as soon as it sounded off. " Tails explained as he scratched the back of his head. "What about you Sonic? You saw something right?" The golden fox asked him.

"Oh I saw _something _all right… and you're not gonna _believe_ it…" Sonic answered in a shocked tone. "The men who kidnapped Amy… they were _**G.U.N. **_soldiers…"

As if on queue, the fox and the echidna's eyes widened in bewilderment.

"What the heck? G.U.N.?" Tails yelled in a shocked and furious tone.

"G.U.N.? What, did they mistake you for being Shadow again? What in the _world_ is going on?" The raging echidna yelled as a vein pulsed in his head.

"I don't even know. There's no answer to why they really took Amy, and it scares me honestly." Sonic said to his friends in fear.

"Unfortunately, we might be facing more than one type of enemy." Tails spoke as he shook his head. "If G.U.N. has really gone… _rogue_, then we might have quite problem on our hands."

"What about Shadow and that thief, Rouge? You think they had something to do with that?" Knuckles questioned him.

"I don't think Shadow _or_ Rouge would have a good enough reason to give for G.U.N. to be against us." Sonic said as he defended them.

"I agree with Sonic, something's just not right here. For all we know, they might be allied with that _thing_ over there." The genius fox told them as he pointed his finger in the metallic object's direction.

"That'd be a nightmare come true." Sonic said as he gazed at the deadly thing.

"I still don't understand why they'd all of a sudden turn against us, especially all of the times we've helped them and they've helped us!" Knuckles questioned again, looking for an answer somehow.

"I'm not sure about it either… and I _hate_ it, ...but we've gotta save her. _Save _Amy." He spoke sadly.

"What about Earth though?" Tails asked, shocked by Sonic's statement.

"Earth is our first priority right now, but rescuing Amy is a close second." The hedgehog admitted. Knuckles and Tails nodded at this.

"So what's our next move then?" The emerald guardian asked his friends.

"For now, let's just push forward. Sometime down the road I would like to start developing those suits I told you about back at the hotel."

Tails told them as he brought up a real-time map on his data pad.

"According to this map, we've got about eleven miles until we reach the object. About halfway, we'll stop and I can make the suits."

"Sounds like a plan." The azure hedgehog concluded.

"Let's move out." Sonic sounded as the team headed forward into the catastrophic city. Something bugged Sonic's conscience however.

"You're _not_ helping Amy!" The words practically repeated themselves In his head.

How could her ever forgive himself for saying that to Amy? Why so many unanswered questions?The hedgehog secretly shed a tear for the girl that he truly cared about. _**Amy Rose**__..._

* * *

**A/N: **Yeah. VERY Emotional. For those that ask if this is a romance based Fanfic, I want to let you know that it isn't. Although it does play a role in the plot, Action/Adventure/Drama better describes it. What will happen to Rouge and Omega? Will Shadow be safe on his own? What exactly will happen to Amy? How will Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails fare against TWO different types of enemies now? Find out in the next part of Shadow: Dark Horizon! Anyhow, I hope all of you enjoyed the chapter! Don't forget to Read & Review (Reviews inspire me to write more believe it or not!)


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